Hey ! I'm Hana
by LeanaB
Summary: This is the story of Hana. Hana Braun… Pledis Entertainment hired Hana to coach a kpop group for their new chart song. Before departing to Seoul, she doesn't even know which group it is going to be. Honestly, Hana doesn't mind. For her, it is the first exciting job she has after graduating and she wants to make the most out of this opportunity. Will she? What Hana doesn't know i
1. Foreword

Hana had just arrived in Seoul in the morning. Running around already, she had to find her way alone from Incheon airport to Gangnam-gu. She had been summoned by Pledis Entertainment to come directly at their building to fill in formalities and prepare the practice room for her first training session.

When applying to the job, Hana had not been made aware of the name of her possibly next employer. They had only told her a few days ago, a long time after she was informed being taken for the position. Further to that information, they had notified her that due to planning issues, they could not find her an accommodation as promised in the contract. Eventually, they asked her if she would not mind sharing the kitchen and the living-room with roommates. Hana preferred that than being left on the road.

According to the pictures they had sent her, Hana found that the room was quite nice. It was already furnished and was offering direct access to the entrance of the apartment and had a private bathroom. The day before leaving from Tokyo to Seoul, she had a call from a manager who explained to her that her room was actually in a dorm. Furthermore, the space was usually at the disposal of the managers of the group Hana was going to train. Feeling bad to occupy a free spot, she thanked him and asked kindly if he could tell her for which group she had been contracted for. Hana could at first not believe when he told her. She had been thinking all along having been contracted for a girls group. Seventeen, she could not have imagined it ! After the call, she spent a long time researching on the group, that she already knew quite well, and the company. Hana wanted to feel ready in order to present herself as confident and professional.

During the flight, Hana had had a long thought about what kind of exercises she was going to do with thirteen men. In addition to that, she had googled how to behave with people older than her in Korea. However, as she was already considered as being rude in Japan, she gave up on that and thought of giving her western cultural background as an excuse. Following Google Maps, she tried to find her way to the building where Pledis Entertainment had their headquarters and practice rooms. Unfortunately, as she had missed the right metro stop, she had to walk a longer way than she had expected. She was actually really good at orienting herself but she always had had problems in big cities.

"You arrived at your destination," blurted the feminine GPS voice.

"Thanks," whispered Hana.

She was standing in front of a white and plain corner building. It did not have anything special to it, but Hana liked the simplicity of the design and the factory feel to it. At least, they did not want to show off like other entertainment companies in Korea. Hana could begin to feel her stress coming to her throat. She just hoped that she would be able to act normally. After having moved to the USA and then to Japan, she kind of took confidence in her social skills. Still, today she was quite intimidated by the entire situation. She pressed a white button at the entrance and a feminine voice came out of the intercom.

"Good morning, you are at Pledis Entertainment. How can I help you?"

"Good morning, I am Hana. Hana Braun. I am the newly appointed choreographer for Seventeen."

"Oh !" said the voice surprised. "Welcome to Korea, Mrs. Braun. I am coming to open you the door. Please wait a moment."

The pronunciation of her surname made Hana smile. She was already used to the Japanese pronunciation, but the Korean one was something else. She could hear her German father say "These Asian people… Das ist Braun nicht bulaun !". She laughed internally. A little Korean woman opened the door and hastened to say with a bow:

"Annyeonghaseyo!"

Hana politely bowed back. The lady seemed kind. She was not the youngest anymore, but she was really pretty. She kindly showed Hana the way to the reception and explained:

"For the front door, we mainly use a biometric system recognizing the fingerprints. Therefore, I will have to take your fingerprints and save them into our system along with your personal data."

Hana nodded in agreement. 'Like secret agents,' she thought. The lady gave her some papers to fill in. Hana had to show her her passport to confirm her identity.

"We registered you to get a work visa, and we will transmit it to you as soon as it arrives," she informed.

"Thank you so much, if you need further documents for the process, don't hesitate to tell me."

"We will. Please put your index here."

She was showing a little machine that she pulled out of behind her counter. Hana placed her index on the screen thrilled. The entrance door opened on a large man with glasses.

"Good morning, Mr. Kim. How are you doing today?"

"Very well Mrs. Ahn. And you, do we have a guest?"

"Very well. Yes, this is Mrs. Braun."

"Oh !" he declared. "The well-expected choreographer Hana. I watched some of your videos on your youtube channel. It was awe-inspiring and quite various."

As he finished his sentence laughing, Hana could not tell if he was serious or not. Nevertheless, she bowed and thanked him out of respect. 'That's how we do it, here,' she thought. He was not the manager she had had on the phone the day before. Despite that, he asked her:

"We are going to bring your belongings to the dorm as soon as they are delivered by the airport."

"That is kind of you."

"Oh, before I forget, I have to take your phone number to send you the address of the dorm. To get in we use the same system as here, however, if it does not work, do not hesitate to call me and I will give you the password."

He turned to Mrs. Ahn.

"Mrs. Ahn, could you please send her number to each personal manager of the group."

She nodded and directly typed something on her computer. After a few seconds, she looked back at us.

"It is done! When are the Seventeen members coming today," she asked politely.

He looked at his phone and muttered:

"Let me check the schedule."

Hana did not feel at the right place. She did not know what to do or what to tell.

"Their training is scheduled at one p.m."

It was already noon. Hana was happy she had eaten something quickly at the airport. This would allow her to have more time to prepare what she had planned in her head. The manager turned to her, smiling.

"Let me bring you to the practice room. I think you might want to prepare a bit before giving a class to 13 people."

'Indeed, indeed,' Hana thought to herself.

"I'd love to," she answered cheerfully.

Ten minutes later, she was alone in the practice room. This reminded her of her dance teacher job in Japan. She smiled widely thinking of her rock'n'roll class with seniors. Some of them had been sad to know about her leave. Others had told her to follow her dreams, meet love, and eventually get married. If only life could have been so easy as the elders described, youth would not be wasted on the young.

"Who are we? Just a speck of dust within the galaxy," Hana started to sing quietly. "Turn the page; maybe we'll find a brand new ending where we're dancing in our tears. God, tell us the reason youth is wasted on the young. It's hunting season, and this lamb is on the run. We're searching for meaning, but are we all lost stars trying to light up the dark?"

With calm, she connected her phone to the speakers of the room and put on the playlist she had prepared. She elegantly went to the middle of the room and started to dance to the rhythm of the music.


	2. Chapter 1

Hana was diligently dancing on a song of the second Dirty Dancing movie when the first members entered the practice room. As soon as she noticed, she turned the volume down letting the Latino music enhance the background atmosphere. She bowed to the guys who already took place around her.

"Hi !" she said in a very American way.

She could hear some of the smallest members whisper:

"Soo tall…"

Personally, Hana did not think she was that tall but well in the eyes of Asian; she was with her 172 cm already perceived as a giant woman. However, Hana was delighted to see that the average men height in Korea was more generous than in Japan. On the eleven men who were already in the room, only one was way smaller than her. Hana had a quick look at her watch. It was already five past one. Her German blood went boiling to her head.

"Well, still two missing," she said frowning.

She knew already which boys were missing. Therefore, when they made their entrance into the practice room, she hastened to say with a serious tone:

"Mingyu, Hoshi, well come on in and take place."

Hana could see the others approve her teasing as a smile formed on their faces. The latecomers surprised took place rapidly. Hana waited a moment until they all gazed at her.

"Well, now that everyone is here," she said and then bowed. "Good afternoon, I'm Hana, your new trainer, mentor and roommate for the next few months."

They all bowed back with their collective "Seventeen, annyeonghaseyo! Seventeen ibnida". Hana could not stop herself laughing because she found it quite charming. She nodded again politely and continued her speech.

"I'm pleased to meet you and looking forward to working with you all. So… I was informed that your next chart song, correct me if I'm wrong, will have a latino touch to it?"

They all nodded nicely.

"And therefore, you need some coaching to initiate yourself to the latino style of dance." She hesitated before continuing. "You must know that I do not pretend to be the best at it but I'm sure I can teach something to each one of you, and I'm sure I'm going to learn a lot as well."

Some raised their eyebrows waiting for what was coming next.

"Regarding age difference… I'm way younger than most you and as I do not feel so confident in my Korean way of speaking, for now… could we agree to be casual with each other?"

They looked at each other undecided, and after a moment, they all approved.

"Thank you," stated Hana with a bow. "Even though I've lived in Japan for the past four years, I grew up with a western cultural background. That's why I'm not so good with these formalities, especially with young people. I hope you understand… I'm 23 years old by the way if you were wondering."

They all turned to the youngest member who was a year older than Hana and smiled nicely. Hoshi spoke up with the firm intention to tease him:

"Well, Dino, you are not the youngest in the dorm anymore… for now."

They started to laugh all together at Dino's vexed expression. Hana joined them with joy.

"Okay, guys. Let's stay serious for now. Mh… I want to check that I can associate the names with your actual faces. So let me start."

Hana went to the first member who was on her right and said, "You are, Woozi?"

He bowed his head in a sign of agreement. Hana could not stop herself to add, "I'm sincerely sorry to be so tall…"

He looked up at her with a smile and said, "I'm quite used to it. You know with these guys…"

"Makes me feel a bit better then," Hana answered cheerfully.

She smoothly moved to the next person.

"Jeonghan?"

"Yes."

"Then, we have the famous leader ."

He raised two thumbs-up with a wink which made Hana smile.

"One of the Chinese member, Jun?"

Jun approved and elegantly made a reverence. Hana curtsy back to him with a wink.

"Dino ?"

"Yes," Dino said bowing politely.

"Let me know if I pronounce it correctly, Seungkwan?"

"Exactly," he said with an encouraging smile. "Fighting, Hana."

"Thank you," she laughed. "Then, one of the English-speaking members… Joshua."

"Nice to meet you, Hana," he said in English while gently kissing her hand.

"It's a pleasure," she replied in English before going back to Korean. "The second Chinese member and wine lover, the8."

"SVT club ?" he asked raising one eyebrow.

"Probably," she smiled. "If you need any advice on European wines, do not hesitate to ask… My father made me taste wine regularly from my 12th birthday."

They all looked at Hana probably shocked that an adult could give alcohol to a kid.

"What is your favorite wine variety?" Hana asked interested.

"Mh," he started thoughtfully. "Kabeleune Sobinyong probably."

Hana hoped she wasn't impolite, but she couldn't stop herself from laughing.

"Well," she stated. "I might be helpful in other ways than just as a dancing coach. Minghao, try it this way, cabernet sauvignon. That's the proper pronunciation."

She smiled at him brightly. He looked at Hana eager to learn more about his hobby.

"Cabelnet saubignon," he tried.

"We're almost there," Hana claimed while putting her hand on his shoulder. "And by the way, from what I can remember, Joshua has a lot to learn as well on the proper pronunciation of wine varieties."

The8 burst into laughing.

"Well, he has much more to learn on wine than only the pronunciation."

'They like teasing each other,' Hana noticed. She enjoyed that. It was making the entire atmosphere more casual than Hana expected it to be at first. She moved to the next member.

"Wonwoo?"

He seemed to be the shyest member for now because he just bowed without saying or doing anything.

"Then, we have the next English-speaker whose name always makes me think of Harry Potter's uncle."

All the members started to laugh and clap in their hands because of the inaccurate comparison. Some of them were miming a big belly and a grumpy face. Seungkwan added, "That's even funnier when you know that Vernon is a huge fan of Harry Potter."

"Well," Hana asserted. "Me too! That's why it seems weird at first. But that was not the point, can I just call you Vernon with a non-Korean pronunciation?"

Vernon was shaking his head not knowing what he should think about Hana's comment.

"Yes," he replied. "But only on one condition… please don't link my name to Mr. Dursley anymore because we don't have anything in common."

Hana smiled.

"I'll try my best," she said in English. "I promise."

"Wait, wait, wait," exclaimed. "We are not finished here."

"Vernon is good at imitating scenes out of movies," Jeonghan added. "Vernon let's show your amazing skills to Hana and recreate a scene of uncle Vernon."

"Why on earth should I do that now?" Vernon wondered, uncomfortable.

"Remember the bet you've lost recently," Jeonghan mentioned with a mischievous smile. "Well, this is your forfeit."

Vernon didn't have much of a choice. He breathed in and out deeply before saying, "Well then, let's do the fine day Sunday scene in English."

"Nice pick! Hana acknowledged. Let me play Harry."

Vernon nodded. After cleaning his throat and hunching his shoulders, arms crossed, he started with a deep voice, "Fine day Sunday. In my opinion, best day of the week. Why is that, Dudley?"

While asking that, he turned to Wonwoo. Hana had to control herself not to laugh.

"Because there's no post on Sundays?" she said acting like she was offering him a plate of cookies.

Vernon took one of the fictitious cookies while answering, "Right you are, Harry !" then Vernon mumbled. "No post on Sundays. Hah!"

He finished looking at his fictional cookie satisfied with his performance. The members applauded. Hana chirped, "Wow! That was quite impressive."

"Thank you," Vernon acquiesced. "You're quite good as well."

"Thanks," she answered with a smile.

'That was fun,' Hana thought while moving to the next member.

"DK ?"

"Dokyeom actually," he pointed out with a broad smile.

"Let it just be DK for now," Hana giggled.

"As you wish Hana," he answered with a half-smile.

He had pronounced her name in such an attractive way that Hana blushed. DK noticed and gazed at her visibly amused.

"W… well," Hana stuttered. "Next, we have the leader of the performance unit, Hoshi."

When he smiled at her, his eyes wrinkled up naturally.

"I'm looking forward to working with you Hana," he said cheerfully with a bow.

Hana bowed back to him politely. She found herself in front of the tallest member of the group and could not help but feel impressed. Intimidated, she stumbled:

"The cherry on the cake, at last, the tallest and most competent man in the room."

"Interested?" he chuckled while raising one of his eyebrows.

Hana stared at him wide-eyed before hastening to answer, unsure, "No… Well as a girl I can say that you are quite pleasant to the eye and that I might be biased by your height but… I'm professionally interested, and not otherwise."

Her answer seemed to meet every member's consent as they nodded in approval.

Hana added before going back to the front of the practice room, "I like it tidy and clean as well Mingyu. We will get along well."

"Okay guys, now that I made sure not to mix you up, let me present myself a bit more. I'm quite international as I grew up in Switzerland before moving to the US and then to Japan. As my father was a champion in Rock'n'roll dance back in his days, I've got familiar with dancing from my youngest age. While studying international business management in Tokyo, I had a part-time job in a dance studio, and after graduating, I've decided to work there full-time before applying for this position. French is my mother tongue, and in addition to that, I also speak German, English, obviously, and Japanese. I'm not the best at Korean as I'm learning it only for four years, so please be considerate. Well, that was a quick summary of my life curriculum, but we will have more time to know each other better… So let's start with today's training. I'm not trying to teach you salsa or cha-cha-cha. However, through our training sessions, my objective it to inspire you with latino flavored dance moves to get the body feeling and a sense of body contact. As you might know or not, Hispanic-latino people like it when it gets touchy. So do not be afraid of physical contact guys. If you stay professional, I won't punch you in the face."

The members did not seem to be reassured at all by Hana's words.

"Let's start then with a warm-up. I'm going to put a song on, and I want you to just have fun and dance on it. Do not hesitate to get creative. I want to see everyone moving."

Hana turned to the table where her phone was laying. While choosing the song she wanted, she mumbled to herself, "No, not this one. Not this one either. Hah! Found it! she declared suddenly."

The song Footloose from Blake Shelton began to vibrate in the background. Hana put the volume up and started to dance while lip-synching. The members recognizing the song joined her instantaneously. Her passionate dancing moves motivated even Woozi to get a little crazy. "We got to turn you around." Joshua grabbed Hana's hand and made her turn around. When the last chorus resonated, every member was somehow lip-synching and having fun. The song ended, and Jun declared loudly, "This was fun!"

The members approved his words with a collective, "Yes !"

Hana undid her ponytail and shook out her hair before saying exhausted, "Well, I'm already sweating." She rapidly tied her hair into a messy bun. "Now, we are ready to start the real work! The menu of today is… pam pam pam salsa!"

Hana, firstly, demonstrated the necessary steps of salsa. After an hour practice, Hana put everyone into groups of two to practice the lead and the turns. As Jun was the one with the least issues, he paired up with Hana to show the other guys the right moves. Hana enjoyed the scene of the members dancing as couples trying their best to loosen up their hips. Most of them were doing progress.

Hana approached Seungkwan who was dancing with Hoshi but was facing some real difficulties.

"Do you allow me to put my hands on your hips?" she asked politely.

His gaze firstly widened up. Hana blushed and hastened to ask, "Did I just say something naughty?"

Hoshi started laughing and answered instead of Seungkwan, "Not really, Seungkwan only likes to be prudish sometimes."

"Prudish? My ass," Vernon retorted. "He is the first one having his hands all over the place."

Hana's mouth shaped in an o. She looked at both visibly shocked and blurted out, "Whaaaaaat ?! Oh my god," she stated while raising her hand towards Vernon. " No, my god, I really don't wanna know what he's doing with his hands."

Vernon's face slowly crumbled and before he could add anything, Hana said, "My god, stop it. That's your thing."

She turned towards Seungkwan and continued imploring, "Let me help you by letting me put my hands on your hips, please."

"Guys," Mingyu started. "Don't you think she looks like Wonwoo when she gets stressed out?"

By saying this, he imitated the hand gesture that Hana just made.

"True," Jeonghan agreed. "It has Wonwoo feeling to it."

Hana buried her face in her hands.

"Can't he just answer my demand instead of driving me crazy?" she asked while obsessionally fixing Seungkwan's hips.

"Please," he eventually replied. "Help me."

"Thank god," Hana declared shaking her palms towards the sky.

While Hana was grabbing Seungkwan's hips, Wonwoo asked, "Do I look like this?"

"Definitely," the other members answered.

"That's kind of funny," Wonwoo remarked with a half-smile.

They all looked at Hana who was dancing her hands on Seungkwan's hips. After 15 minutes of personal coaching, Hana let go of him and declared, "Look, now, do you feel it? That's exactly how you must do it."

Seungkwan moaned while massaging his legs, "Gosh, that's tiring."

Hana smiled and slowly moved to her next victim.

"Vernon, can I?" she asked showing her hands.

"Sure," he answered with a wince.

Vernon did not have the same difficulties than Seungkwan to find the rhythm, but Hana still found that his moves were stiff.

"Do you know how to swim?" she asked out of the blue.

"Well, y...yes," he stuttered surprised.

"Then, think that we are moving in the water right now."

Hana's words had a direct effect on Vernon's body awareness. His moves were more supple and fluid. She put her hands in the right position and carried on the series of steps she had taught them. Slowly, Vernon took the lead, making her turn and spin around him. She laughed cheerfully, "Isn't it fun when you get the sense of it?"

"Indeed, it is," he calmly admitted while ending their dance.

They were training for three hours already. Therefore, Hana decided that they had worked enough for today.

"Okay, guys, we are going to do the last challenge before ending today's training. I can already compliment all of you. You all worked hard, and you are dedicated students."

The oldest members giggled at the word student.

"I'm going to ask you to put yourself in a situation. I'm going to put on a song that you all know quite well, and I want some of you to come up to me and dance with me. Just imagine that you are in a latino country and that you want to impress a lady… or a man depending on personal preferences dancing on the dancefloor. Okay?"

All the members approved. Hana hopped to her phone and chose the only Seventeen song with a latino touch to it: Fast Pace.

"Guys, please do me the favor to forget your choreography."

Without surprise, Jun was the first one to take his chances and dance with Hana. It turned out to get hot. "You walk so quickly." Jun made Hana spin around in the arms of the8. The dancing couple synchronized their hips move to the music. Hana smoothly crossed her arms around the8's neck while he put her closer to him. "We're going". The8 moved back to give up his position to Dino while lip-synching his part of the song. Hana could discern in Dino's moves that he was a dedicated person, always trying to do at best. The members could not help but notice how Hana perfectly replicated some of Vernon's gestures like the sharp look with the chin up and the head slightly inclined. "You walk so quickly." DK came to Hana in a passionate way worthy of Patrick Swayze. Hana liked his way of not taking himself too seriously. It was refreshing and charming. They danced closely back to front. Enthusiastic, DK made her turn and spin around. At the end of the song, both were laughing catching their breath.

"That was intense," mentioned Hana. "I had a lot of fun, thanks to those who accepted in taking part in the challenge. You were all successful."

She looked at the other members.

"You'll have a chance next time guys! Do you have any plans for this evening?"

Some of them shook their heads; others were gazing at their leader who pointed out, "No, not really. Why?"

"Mh," Hana added thoughtfully. "I wanted actually to cook something for all of you as I'm kinda intruding into your dorm… Are you interested in something French?"

"Yes !" the8 blurted out. "Oh yes, please. It will change from our daily Korean or Chinese menu."

The eyes of some members sparkled at the idea. Hana looked at waiting for any sign of approval. He nodded with a smile.

"Does everyone like beef, potatoes, carrots and green beans?"

"Yes !" they answered in one voice.

"Perfect. The training is therefore officially over and… well, I'm going to do some grocery shopping now."

"Let me accompany you," Joshua interrupted.

"Euh," Hana answered surprised. "Is it alright for you to wander around like this?"

He suddenly took a mask out of his jacket and said proudly, "Don't worry. With that, I'm barely recognizable."

Hana was already on her way out. He joined her cheerfully and waved back to the boys, "See you later guys!"


	3. Chapter 2

"Well," Hana pointed out in English. "It is good that you came because I have no clue about where I'm supposed to go."

"What do you want to buy?" Joshua asked.

"Well, I'll need carrots, green beans, potatoes, and rosemary. I can infer that you do have some olive oil and seasonings at the dorm?"

Joshua shook his head in a sign of approval.

"Okay and then I wanted to see what I can find in wines and beers to meet everyone's preference. And for the meat, do you know a place that sells local products. I can't eat meat when I don't know where the animal comes from."

"That's a funny way of being vegetarian," he declared laughing.

"I'm quite complicated with animal products in general. No pork, no chicken, and only meat from a supposed happy animal."

"Remember me to never take you out for dinner," Joshua joked.

"Well," Hana added. "It's evident that it is going to be difficult for me here in Korea, but I'm willing to accept the challenge. We can as well buy usual beef, but I won't eat it, that's not a problem."

"I know a butcher shop not far from here. Mingyu always goes there when he wants an excellent piece of Korean beef. Let's go there and then get the rest at the grocery shop that is not far from the dorm."

"That sounds amazing!"

From the headquarters, they had to take the subway for one or two stops. On the way, Hana admitted, "It is so nice to be able to speak English."

"Believe it or not," Joshua started. "I feel the same way."

They laughed happily together.

"As I still don't feel very confident in Korean," Hana confessed. "I have the feeling that I cannot express all my thoughts. It's a real relief for me right now! Be aware! I might get very talkative in English."

"That's the issue when you're multilingual," Joshua agreed. "Sometimes you want to express something in one language but there a more precise word in the other language you know. I often struggle with this."

"Hah!" Hana exclaimed. "I face the same issue mostly with German. It is such a detail-oriented language compared to English and French."

"Tell me then... you do speak five languages fluently?"

"Yeah, I could tell that. I can speak as well a bit of Chinese, Italian, and Spanish but my level isn't extraordinary."

"Wow," Joshua declared open-mouthed. "That's impressive."

"Thank you. You do as well from what I've read."

Joshua started laughing.

"Yeah, but as you've said without an extraordinary level."

"Come on! I'm sure you're too humble. If you want you could add "le Français" to your list. I'm willing to teach you, she said with a wink."

"Mh," he mumbled. "It's true that it is a seductive language. I'll think about it."

"Gosh, I will never get used to big cities," Hana declared when someone bumped into her on the crosswalk.

"Why?" Joshua asked. "You lived in Tokyo for the past four years, didn't you?"

"Well, I knew how to avoid the most crowded places. I grew up in Switzerland, you know, the country whose entire population is even less than the whole population of Seoul."

Joshua bursted into laughing.

"Well, but don't tell me that you were living somewhere in Texas when you were in America?"

"No," Hana declared proudly. "I did better than this: Seattle for three years. It's not Los Angeles, but it is way bigger than Geneva for instance."

"Geneva ?"Joshua asked thoughtfully. "I've already heard it somewhere."

"Oh please," Hana said startled. "Don't tell me you do it like every American. Mixing up Switzerland with Sweden !?"

Joshua raised his hands as a sign of apology and smiled.

"I was joking. Switzerland is in the middle of Europe while Sweden is in Scandinavia."

"Well, you are part of a minority then."

Hana rooted to the spot when she saw the entrance of the shop Joshua was bringing her to. It looked to be very rustical for a shop located in Gangnam. Joshua laughed and covered his mouth when he saw her reaction.

"Don't worry... you're at least sure that one is local."

Joshua entered first followed by Hana. Inside, there was an older man behind a counter displaying various cuts of meat.

"Oh," he exclaimed. "If it's not Joshua? I was wondering when you'll come again, guys."

Joshua bowed politely before turning over to Hana and asking her in English, "What were you planning to cook?"

Hana breathed out reassured to know that Seventeen was an appointed customer of the shop.

"I think I'd like to take the ribeye part of the beef and roast it in the oven. But I don't know how to say ribeye in Korean. Wait!"

She realized that ovens weren't usual in Asian kitchens. She stared at Joshua wide-eyed and asked hastily, "First of all, do you have an oven?"

Joshua started to laugh.

"Believe me, we do have a good one. We don't use it very often, but it is, in my opinion, way better when you want to warm-up a pizza, you know."

Joshua approached the elder and asked if he had enough ribeye for fourteen people. The ahjussi laughed while inquiring how the meat will be cooked.

"It's for a ribeye roast," Joshua added.

Hana spotted the correct Korean word to define ribeye and stored it in her memory for future inquiries. The butcher gave them three kilograms of meat and some recommendations regarding the cooking. Hana could not help but ask, "Sir, was this cow happy and treated fairly?"

He answered by explaining that all his cuts were coming from the farm of his close friend. Hana thanked him. She gazed over Joshua happy for his recommendations worthy of a real local citizen. His look darkened when he pointed out, "Even though, the prices for beef are currently going down in Korea. It's going to cost you a fortune. Are you sure you want to do that?"

Hana was surprised about his kind consideration, but replied with a broad smile, "I've told you that I'll invite you all. It is my firm intention to do so."

Hana was grateful to her mum who gave her the equivalent of $500 in cash before leaving. The ahjussi kindly told her, "Let me make you a price. If I hadn't sold this piece today, I could have thrown it away actually."

In the end, Hana paid a $120 for the ribeye, which was a fantastic price reduction. When they went out of the butcher shop, Hana declared guilty, "I should have given him more. He was so kind to us, and it's a lot of meat."

"It's okay, Hana," he comforted her. "We are regular customers. That was his way of rewarding our loyalty."

Hana gazed at him with an empty expression and declared, "At first, I thought that you were pranking me."

"Me " he asked surprised. "No, not on your first day. I still have to make a good impression you know."

"Oh!" she blinked a smile playing at the corner of her lips.

Joshua took her to the closest supermarket to Seventeen's dorm: an E-mart. Their selection of alcohol pleasantly surprised her. Hana decided to buy two red wines from Bordeaux and a Dornfelder from Germany. Also, Joshua and Hana agreed on taking a selection of different beers coming from both Germany and Belgium.

"I'm very happy that you are cooking an European meal," Joshua confessed. "It's very exotic!"

Hana mumbled behind box she was carrying, "Well, I hope I'm going to meet everyone's expectations."

"For sure," Joshua grinned. "We're there!"

They had arrived in front of a plain and simple building that did not seem new. From the picture Hana saw of her room, Hana inferred that it had been renovated only from the inside.

"Are you sure you don't wanna switch?" Joshua inquired showing her the plastic bags in his two hands.

"It's very kind Joshua," she said gently. "I'm doing fine though."

She positioned the box firmly against her to pretend she wasn't struggling with its actual weight. Joshua held the door open for her. Hana had been right: the interior of the building had been modernized. They took the elevator up to the fifth floor. Hana started to laugh when they stopped in front of the apartment number 17.

"It was a real coincidence," he justified.

Hana raised one eyebrow skeptically. Joshua put his index on the electronic display of the door and let Hana enter first.

"Don't forget to take off your shoes," he said behind her.

Still hidden behind the heavy box, she commented while trying her best to take her shoes off, "I'll do my best!"

"I've told you that you should have left the box to me," Joshua scolded her.

"Got it!" she replied with a broad smile.

Barefoot, she continued to move through the hallway and announced in Japanese, "Ojamashimasu !"

"Yokoso !" Hoshi answered in a loud voice while showing Hana the kitchen.

With a sigh of relief, she placed the box carefully on the counter. She hastened to stretch out her arms with a wince. Hoshi turned to Joshua and reprimanded him, "How could you let a girl carry this heavy box?"

"I offered my help at least three times." He whined rolling his eyes. "But this girl is so stubborn, you can't even imagine."

Hana stretched out her arm while doing a heart with her thumb and index.

"I'm pleading guilty," she agreed.

"The manager put your luggage in your room," Vernon who was comfortably sitting on a couch interfered.

"Thanks for telling me. I'll unpack tomorrow," she declared while emptying the plastic bags.

She turned towards Joshua.

"Thanks again, Joshua, for the help. It was kind of you to accompany me."

"Don't hesitate to ask if you need help," he replied, laughing. "Don't be stubborn all the time."

"Oh!" Hoshi chuckled. "How likely it is from our Joshua, such a gentleman."

Hana took out her phone and her little Bluetooth speakers.

"Does it bother anyone if I put some music on while cooking?" she asked.

The three of them shook their heads. Hana added, "And does anyone want to help me peel the vegetables?"

Hoshi made an unsatisfied face and promptly informed, "I would have loved to, but I still have to take a shower."

As quickly as lightning, he left the living room by another hallway. Joshua was silent. Vernon got up and declared, "Well, I'll help with pleasure. Joshua, you should have a shower as well instead of spreading your manly scent everywhere."

Hana was opening the different compartments to get familiar with the setting of the kitchen. She found two big bowls that she took to prepare the potatoes. One for the unpeeled potatoes and the other filled with water to clean them before cutting them. Vernon took place quietly and started to peel the potatoes. Hana looked for baking dishes and found two of them. She placed the big piece of meat in one and saved the other one for the vegetables.

"Woaw," he gaped at the beef like a kid. "What part is it?"

Hana was pleased to be able to answer in Korean with the word she had learned today.

"It's ribeye."

His eyes sparkled. Hana heated up the oven before putting on a random playlist and starting peeling the carrots next to Vernon. The8 and Jun entered the living room and laid down, each one on a different couch. Jun's mouth formed an o when his attention fell on the meat. Hana noticed.

"You all like meat, don't you?"

"Yes, we do," Vernon answered for everyone.

Jun nodded with enthusiasm while licking his lips.

"I see I see," Hana laughed.

After having prepared the meat, Hana placed it into the oven. She was already half-trough cutting the carrots. Hana glanced over at Vernon and observed that he was doing his job with high precision but was not quick at all. She smiled because his strong expression was touching. When she finished, she started cubing the peeled potatoes. Joshua took a sit in front of them at the bar counter. He had a towel around his neck, and his hair was still wet.

"You were even quicker than Usain Bolt," Vernon commented in English.

"Yeah, well, I thought that we could do Hana a favor and pursue a conversation in English before everyone joins."

"Yes, please!" Hana cried out.

"I knew you'd like that."

Vernon looked at them skeptically and asked in English:

"Since when did you two become so close?"

"We've spent the afternoon together you know, that's entirely sufficient to get to know each other a bit."

He looked at Vernon with a half-smile and assured, "You'll get your chance, too, Vernon."

Vernon rolled his eyes and asked Hana, "This song is pretty good, is it French?"

Hana's eyes sparkled as she hastened to answer with passion, "Yes, that's Stromae. He's a Belgian rapper and singer. He's very impressive. If I'm not mistaken, he writes and composes almost all of his songs. The lyrics are significant when you understand them."

Vernon shook his head on the beat of the song "Papaoutai." Hana persisted, "I went once to his concert. It was amazing!"

"Did you already go to a lot of concerts?" Joshua asked.

"Well, I cannot tell. Where I come from in Switzerland, we have a big festival where I often went as a kid. My all-time favorite on stage is MIKA. I've seen him three times in concert. I don't know how popular he is overseas, but in Europe, his albums were a big hit. Do you know him?"

"Relax, take it eeeeasy," Vernon tried imitating the high voice.

Hana started laughing.

"Yes, that's exactly him!"

"I enjoyed the song he did with Ariana Grande," Joshua confessed.

As if it had heard Joshua, the playlist started the song "Popular Song." Hana instantly began to lip-sync on it. Joshua happily played the game with her. Vernon looked at them dancing and having fun in the living room. Even the8, who had stared at his phone the entire time glance at them. Jun, who couldn't stay seated too long without doing anything, joined them enthusiastically jumping around. When the song ended, the three of them did a high-five. "Seems like they found each other," Vernon thought while carrying on his task. Jun laid down again on the couch, and Hana put water to boil on the hotplate and quickly finished cubing the potatoes.

"Thank you," she said to Vernon with a shy smile.

"It was a pleasure," he answered while cleaning the potato leftovers.

Hana put the vegetables in the oven after having seasoned them. She placed the green beans into the boiling water for a few minutes before rinsing them and setting them aside. Then, she took a seat at the big dining table with Vernon and Joshua.

"Hey Hana," Joshua declared. "What is the most difficult language to learn in your opinion?"

"I'd say that French and German are rather challenging to learn because of the various grammatical points. However, the language that is for me the most difficult to learn is Chinese. First of all the characters and then the overall pronunciation." She laughed before pursuing, "I can remember that after my Chinese lessons, I always had such a headache and I was so thirsty. As a European, I'm not used to keeping all the sounds in my throat. And can you explain to me who invented those five different tones because if you don't tell the word with the right tone, it just means something else! Yeah, as you can see after four years, I've lost all hopes in learning Chinese. Wo bu xuexi Hanyu !"

Jun and the8 turned their faces to them.

"Can you speak Chinese?" Jun asked, excited.

Hana's face crumbled, and she said quickly, "Wo de baba shi Deguo ren. Unfortunately, I can't do a lot more than that guys."

"But that's already good!" Jun complimented her.

"You're too kind Jun."

"We can teach you," the8 offered with a smile.

"Well, if you can motivate me too then why not," Hana laughed. "Ah! The8! I have a gift for you."

She hastened to the kitchen to take one of the red wine bottles.

"This is a Bordeaux red wine, and from what I can remember, it is a good one. I'm not sure if the year was good one or not but I hope it was. I have the same bottle for this evening if you wanna try it."

The8 looked surprised at the bottle Hana had given him. He gently pressed the gift against him. When looked up, his face spoke even louder than his words.

"I'm touched, Hana. Thank you so much!"


	4. Chapter 3

Everyone was sitting at the table that fitted fourteen people waiting on Hana to bring the ribeye roast.

"Who wants wine? Who wants a beer ?" Hana asked.

Only a few of them raised hands for wine. Hana put the beer bottles on the table before bringing the meat that she had cut in thin slices.

"You can start guys," she noted.

They had waited on the signal to start eating which they gladly did.

"Don't forget to enjoy," Hana added when seeing them rush onto the plates. "It is French cuisine."

Hana distributed the wine glasses to The8, Mingyu, Joshua, and herself. She then took the bottle of wine and commented in French, "Puis-je vous proposer un Bordeaux de l'année 2020 ? Ce vin rouge accompagne somptueusement le rôti de boeuf en y ajoutant une note fruitée et épicée à la fois. Je vous laisse goûter ?"

All the members had stopped eating to look at her present the bottle of wine to The8. She poured a hint of Bordeaux in a glass and offered it to him.

"That's your moment," she added with a smile.

The8 elegantly tasted the wine and announced in a clumsy French, "Excellent." Hana poured him a full glass.

"I want to have the French version as well," Mingyu begged. "It makes it feel erotic."

Hana rolled her eyes and continued, "Est-ce que je peux vous proposer également, mon cher Mingyu, un verre de ce Bordeaux ?"

"I don't understand a word," he admitted. "But I'll just answer oh oui !"

The entire table started laughing and clapping into their hands. Hana filled in the remaining glasses and took place at the end of the table. Hoshi who was next to her had already filled her plate. She thanked him for his consideration and started eating. She enjoyed the meat as it was tender and juicy. Everyone was silent, too busy eating.

"Can I ask how it is?" Hana wondered.

"It's something new!" Seungkwan commented.

"It's delicious," DK added.

"I love it!" Jun blurted.

"Thank you, Hana," Woozi said.

"That makes me happy," Hana grinned. "It's my grandma's recipe. She'll be happy to know that I succeeded in making it tasty."

"Is she French ?" Dino asked.

"Well," Hana started. "I'm going to tell you how international my family tree is. Let's begin on my mother's side. Her dad is Japanese. He met my grandma who is Swiss when he came to study in Switzerland. When my grandma died, my grandpa decided to go back to Japan for his retirement. So, I'm a quarter Japanese, I guess. On my father's side, my grandma is French, and my grandpa is German. My father grew up in Germany, and when he came to Switzerland to study, my grandparents decided to move to France. They have a property in the North of France; it's pretty insane! I've spent all of my summer holidays there until I moved to the US."

"Why did you move to the US?" Joshua asked.

Hana's face darkened. She sighed before announcing in one go, "Because after my dad passed away, my mum couldn't bear staying in Switzerland."

A heavy silence filled up the room. No one knew what to tell in this kind of situation. Hana lowered her head.

"My father was a talented and inspiring man… The US… That's where I met my Scottish best friend, Samantha. She is the one who made me discover kpop."

The guys raised up their chins relieved that Hana changed the subject.

"Sam is a huge BTS fan. That does not surprise anyone, does it ?"

Some of them shook their head, and others nodded.

"I have to admit that I was more into Seventeen than BTS. Your band is something else than the other kpop groups, I think. I guess I was drowned to Seventeen because you, guys, are a self-promoting group which has a lot of members. It changes from the traditional kpop 5 to 6 members band system if I can say. Back then, I thought it was refreshing."

They looked very interested in what she was saying as they stopped eating.

"I've never described myself as a fan because, well next to Samantha I'm nothing. She is just crazy about kpop. However, I've always admired your work, passion, and humility despite fame. I like almost all of your songs equally, and they supported me in my daily ups and downs back in America. After moving to Japan, unfortunately, I did not keep up with Seventeen's news, so I only know the chart songs of the past four years but nothing more. Now, I think I'll have to catch up a bit."

Mingyu turned towards the other members and declared with a half-smile, "Guys, don't you think we should do a Seventeen quiz ?"

"Yes, yes, yes," DK insisted.

"What is that ?" Hana inquired.

"You'll see," Hoshi told her. "Who wants to ask her a question ?"

"I'll start," announced. "Which unit is your favorite?"

"Hip-hop," Hana declared. "That's an easy game; I like it. Next ?"

The hip-hop unit members clapped in their hands happy with her answer. Joshua asked, "Your Seventeen biases ?"

"Mh, that's already more difficult, but I'll say DK, Wonwoo, and Mingyu."

"Mingyu was totally foreseeable," Joshua admitted with a wink.

"Your Seventeen favorite singer ?" Seungkwan wondered.

"DK," she answered sincerely.

Dokyeom made big eyes and asked, "Really ?"

Hana put a hand on her heart and affirmed, "Really, really, really."

"DK is blushing for real !" Seungkwan mentioned without consideration.

Dokyeom hid his cheeks with his hands and smiled broadly.

"You can understand guys. This is such a nice compliment. Let me ask the next question then, so that I can appreciate the moment without everyone staring at me. What is your biggest Seventeen frustration, Hana ?"

Hana took a while thinking about her answer. Her eyes sparkled, and she explained, "Do you remember the shirts you designed yourself? Well, my biggest frustration is that I couldn't get my hands on Vernon's personally designed t-shirt. The reason was that, as I could not understand Korean at the time, I did not get that they were for sale. After watching the related SVT club episode with Samantha which had finally been translated, I rushed into finding out where I could buy it. Too bad for me, I was two days late. That was the first time in my life I was so depressed because of a shirt."

"Vernon, do you still have this shirt ?" Wonwoo wondered.

Hana quickly interrupted before Vernon could answer.

"Please Vernon, do not answer this question. Otherwise, I'll be tempted to steal it from your closet."

The entire table burst into laughter. Dino exclaimed, "The image of Hana sneaking around Vernon's closet is just hilarious."

"Hey," Hana defended. "I'm not that creepy! It is just better for me not to know to avoid any temptation."

They couldn't stop themselves. DK was almost crawling on the ground, and Jun, seeking for support, had his head on Vernon's shoulder.

"Next !" Hana declared.

Woozi took the initiative and asked with a smile, "Your Seventeen favorite songs ?"

Hana thanked him by inclining her head and answered, "Fronting, Rocket and Smile Flower."

"Oh !" Woozi looked surprised. "These are not the most famous songs."

Hana took a sip of red wine and gave a shy smile, "Yeah but I like them."

"Am I the only one noticing that these songs have one thing in common," Mingyu challenged, "namely Vernon. Hana, please let me ask what your thing is about Vernon? A kind of obsession ?"

Hana laughed and hid her face in her hands.

"Absolutely not! It might be the simple fact that Vernon is the first member I've got familiar with and the one I could recognize in songs from the beginning. The only obsession that I have with Vernon is that I've always enjoyed imitating him singing. I must admit that I think I'm good at it. Wait, I'll show you."

She stood up and prepared herself, "Yeah... Just stop acting like you didn't hear me or..."

Seungkwan stood up and exclaimed loudly, "Woaaaa, that's totally him!"

Hana took her phone and skipped the song Boomboom until Vernon's part. She had always been good at imitating people: it had been her favorite hobby during her childhood.

"She even did the smile at the end," Joshua noticed. "I'm impressed, what about you Vernon ?"

Vernon was sitting on his chair eyebrows raised.

"I'm quite shocked," he confessed. "She is really good."

Hana curtsied before sitting back on her chair.

"I'm getting warmed up. Is the game already finished ?"

"I have one !" Jeonghan announced. "Your Seventeen most touching moment ?"

"This is a good one," she admitted before looking at Mingyu. "Listen well; it concerns you. I do remember a particular moment. Samantha and I had decided to have a sleepless night to follow live the Ideal Cut concert you did in Seoul. We were listening to some fan audio stream of the H Cut concert, and I felt strange when Mingyu did his solo. I do remember asking Samantha like "Who's that? It's beautiful". You know the feeling when someone does better than you expected. Well, that it is what happened. I think I'd never expected Mingyu to touch my feelings the way he did that day. That's why it was a precious moment for me that will probably stay in my mind forever."

Seungkwan put his hand on Mingyu's shoulder and joked around, "Now it's his time to blush. You're quite something, Hana!"

Hana ran her hand through her hair visibly embarrassed.

"I'm just trying to be honest with you, I guess."

"And we truly value that," confessed. "I think it is very refreshing !"

"You are easygoing," Jun stated. "That's nice because I think it puts us all at ease. We are like that to each other. It makes us feel like you're almost one of us."

"You're too kind," Hana thanked. "Do you have other questions ?"

"Which Seventeen song makes you the most emotional ?" Wonwoo wondered.

"Smile Flower definitely. This song either makes me smile or cry that varies a lot."

"In your opinion, what is the best thing that happened to Seventeen?" Vernon asked.

"Well, that Jeonghan decided to cut his hair," Hana grinned confidently.

Joshua and DK clapped in their hands while laughing.

"Excellent !" Hoshi added taping on her shoulder. "We definitely share the same humor."

Hana looked at the empty dishes on the table.

"Did you all have enough food ?" she enquired.

They nodded, and The8 declared, "It was delicious! And the wine tastes great. I hope you had enough? You could not really eat because the guys asked you so many questions."

"I've got full with vegetables. Thank you so much for asking. I have a German Dornfelder left if you want another glass of wine."

"I won't say no," The8 smiled.

Hana gladly stood up to serve The8 with another glass of wine. She started then to collect the plates before Mingyu interrupted her.

"No, Hana. You already cooked. Let us do that. Maybe someone could show her around while I find a volunteer to help me tidy up the kitchen. Vernon, you already helped, are you up to make an apartment tour ?"

Vernon stood up followed by DK who apparently wanted to avoid the household chores.

"Let's begin upstairs," DK suggested.

Vernon nodded and showed the way to Hana. After a few seconds, Hana could already tell that the space was thoughtfully organized. The kitchen and the living room gave access to two corridors: the one leading to the entrance and the other to the rooms. By following the second corridor, there were, on the left, three bathrooms and, on the right, two bedrooms. At the end of the hallway, there was the last bedroom. After the first bathroom, there was a space with circular stairs to access the second floor of the apartment. It made Hana think of a typical set up of a loft. She was amazed. They started the tour in Jun's, Dino's, DK's and Jeonghan's bedroom. Again space was well organized. Half stairs gave access to two upper beds arranged horizontally. Below them, there were two beds placed vertically. Hana could not define them as ordinary bunk beds, but the cleverness of the design surprised her.

"As we have the smallest room," DK explained proudly opening a door. "We have the privilege to have a dressing room. Cool, isn't it ?"

Hana quickly looked into their dressing room. The only thing she could see were clothes, clothes, and clothes again. However, she noticed that they tried hard to keep it well organized.

"I like it."

DK smiled broadly before pursuing, "And next to it we have our toilets which are separated from the bathroom that has two showers. Look."

Hana quickly checked the spaces. However, her favorite part was still the unusual bunk beds. Vernon took the lead and showed her the room he shared with Joshua.

"Wow," Hana exclaimed. "It looks like a real American college room."

On the wall between their beds, they had a whiteboard showing their monthly schedules. Above, hats were hanging carefully sorted out by colors. Next, to the door, they had placed a reading corner which gave a cozy atmosphere to the room. A back door was connecting the bedroom to a private bathroom. Hana was staring at the two wooden beds.

"Do you like it ?" Vernon asked while entering into her field of vision.

Hana realized that she had been stuck staring out into the distance for some time and answered, "I love this room. It almost feels like home and the beds seem extremely comfortable."

"Please," Vernon offered, showing her apparently what was his bed.

"Really ?" she asked surprised.

"Go on!" Vernon laughed. "It's a real dream."

She glanced at DK to get some kind of approval.

"What Vernon is saying is true. He personally chose the mattresses with Joshua."

"Like a real couple," Hana added with a half smile.

Vernon gave her a pissed look and complained, "Could you just stop with these allusions? It sincerely makes me feel less of a man."

DK burst into laughter while Hana, happily ignoring Vernon, let herself fall on the bed.

"Oh !" she whined. "It is a real dream ! I'm up since 4 a.m.; I think you cannot imagine how much I'm enjoying it right now."

She rolled to the side and brought her knees to the chest. The guys were looking at her with a satisfied smile.

"Can I just stay here until tomorrow ?" Hana chuckled.

Vernon who was feeling the time to seek revenge had come left an eyebrow and suggested, "If you wanna share the bed you can stay."

Hana's eyes widened.

"Share? No way! You can have my bed."

"Ah, unfortunately, I'm not giving up my bed that easily."

"Sheesh," Hana grumbled while standing up. "Maybe at some point, you'll change your mind."

"And I would not let you sleep in the same room as loverboy Joshua," Vernon declared proudly. "I'm a gentleman, you see."

DK intervened, thoughtful, "You wouldn't let her sleep in the same room as Joshua, but you just offered to share the bed. I don't know who the loverboy is here."

Hana laughed and gave DK a high five. Vernon's face crumbled as he lowered his head.

"True… don't you want to go on with the tour ?" he quickly said before leaving the bedroom.

Hana and DK exchanged a smile both happy to have given Vernon some discomfort. They went back downstairs and visited Wonwoo's and ' bedroom. In one corner, there was a single bed and next to the door on the left a bunk bed. Underneath, they had placed a desk with a computer and gaming gadgets. The room had a real geek feeling as it was quite dark. On the wall, lights were organized in a way that it seemed like watching a sky full of stars. Mingyu's and The8's room was designed with style. The layout of the beds was the same as in the previous room, however below the bunk bed, they had arranged a sitting area with some relaxing lights assembled in empty wine bottles. Hana inferred that it was supposed to be The8's bar area. Next to it, an easel with a blank canvas was waiting to be painted on. The atmosphere of the room was romantic; Hana liked it. The last bedroom was the one of Woozi, Seungkwan, and Hoshi. There was one single bed again and a bunk bed which followed the style of design she had seen in DK's room. In one corner, there was a desk with a computer. Hana was surprised by the number of cosmetic items Seungkwan had. DK tried to justify him, "Seungkwan is a lot into skincare and beauty stuff."

"The apartment is nice!", Hana declared. "Thanks for making me visiting."

"Yeah, we are lucky they found this one for us," DK confessed. "Personally, it is my favorite of all the ones we had, even if I don't have a room to myself anymore."

They joined the others in the living room, and Mingyu offered, "Hana, let me show you our laundry room."

It was next to the kitchen in a space which could have been a balcony. Mingyu briefly explained to her how the machines were working and added, "We have a common pot for the dorm where everyone tries to put 5000 Won per month."

Hana nodded. She was starting to feel tired and therefore announced to everyone, "Okay guys, I'm going to unpack my stuff then. I enjoyed my first day with you, guys, and I'm looking forward to working with you. Please, don't hesitate to tell me if I'm doing something wrong or if I'm rude towards you. When is our training tomorrow by the way?"

"At two in the afternoon," Jeonghan answered for everyone.

"I'll see you there then," Hana said waving. "I wish you all a good night and thanks to those who cleaned the kitchen for me. I really appreciate it."

"Good night !" they wished in one voice.

When Hana entered her room, she was smiling. Her first day went on far better than what she had been expected. It had been unique!


	5. Chapter 4

The next morning, Hana woke up at 8.30. She had planned to go grocery shopping for breakfast. As she went out of her room, she glanced over at the living spaces. It seemed like no one was there. The guys had probably a full schedule.

When she came back, she prepared some crepes filled with salad, cucumber, and a sweet balsamic dressing. She loved eating salty in the morning. While having breakfast, she watched some old and new performances of Seventeen on Youtube. Hana wanted to get an image of how each member presented themselves on stage and make an estimate of the difference with how they were in real life. By doing that, Hana was hoping to adjust her training and help them making a choreography that will show each member's personality.

"Are you having fun ?" someone asked in her back.

"Oh my god, you startled me !" Hana gasped when she turned to face Vernon.

He seemed to have just woken up. His hair was messed up, and he was bleary-eyed. Hana could not help but laugh when her gaze met his. "I see now why you don't give up your bed too easily. You look refreshed."

"Ha, ha, ha," he yawned.

Wonwoo appeared behind him and put a hand on Vernon's shoulder. "Oh, Sleeping Beauty is finally awake." He waved at Hana. "Good morning."

He glanced over Hana's breakfast plate. His eyes were sparkling, "What did you prepare for breakfast ?"

"Crepes," Hana answered. "I have some left, do you want some? I can make you a salty or sweet one as you wish."

Wonwoo took the seat in front of her. "Sweet, pleaaase."

He looked like a kid who had been given a treat. Hana smiled, "And you, Vernon ?"

"I'll try the salty one: I need something to wake me up."

He took the seat next to Hana's and rested, his chin leaned on his hands. Hana went to the kitchen to prepare the crepes. Jeonghan entered the room and asked, "It smells nice, what are you cooking ?"

Hana nicely offered him breakfast as well. In the meanwhile, Wonwoo took some jam and hazelnut cream out of the kitchen cupboards. Hana had made too much batter and decided to finish it. She put a pile of crepes in front of Jeonghan and Wonwoo and gave Vernon her salty preparation, "Try it. If you don't like it, I'll eat it." He nodded.

"Where are the others ?" Hana asked.

"They have a different schedule," Wonwoo replied. "However, Woozi must be here as well. You'll see: he often stays in his room."

Jeonghan added, "He often doesn't know what he misses by not being here."

Hana looked at Vernon and noticed the concentration he put into eating.

"I hope you like cucumbers?" Hana worried. "I forgot to ask."

"Be happy you did not prepare that for Seungkwan," Wonwoo commented. "He is the pickiest with food and especially with cucumbers. You hit the jackpot with Vernon."

"It's good, I like it," Vernon, who was finally waking up, encouraged. "It's true: I'm not picky with food."

Hana stood up, "That reassures me. Does it bother anyone if I do some work at the bar counter with some music on ?"

They shook their head. Jeonghan, however, inquired, "Do you do additional work ?"

"Yeah," Hana sighed. "It's for Samantha. She is a creative director and wants to have a freelance business here in Korea. As she has no real clue for business, I'm trying to help her out."

"Mh, that's nice," Jeonghan emphasized.

Hana opened her computer and started to work on the project Samantha had sent her the day before. She checked as well her email to see if she had had any answer from potential clients. Now that she was in Korea, Hana would be able to actively research the proper way to run a freelance business and the regulations to respect. After eating, the guys cleaned the kitchen. Vernon took a seat at the dining table and began working on the lyrics of their new song. Jeonghan went into the laundry room, and Wonwoo lied down on the couch to read something on his tablet. Absorbed in her work, Hana did not notice that she had begun to sing on "Twice" by Christina Aguilera. She was often doing that when she was focused. During her bachelor studies, no one wanted to learn with her because of this habit. At the end of the song, someone cleared his throat behind her. Hana turned around: it was Woozi. She did at first not understand why everyone in the living room was looking at her like a bizarre creature. Then, Woozi asked:

"Could you sing something else?"

"Oh no," Hana realized. "Did I hum again? I'm so sorry that's an annoying habit of mine."

"Could you sing something else?" Woozi insisted.

"Well, I suppose I can try, at least."

Hana thought about a song she was feeling comfortable with, and that could show her abilities to go high and low. The four boys were looking at her impatient.

"The world was on fire, and no one could save me but you," Hana started.

She sang a short part of "Wicked Game" from Chris Isaak. When she finished, Woozi put a hand on his chest, "Wow, I'm impressed."

Vernon and Wonwoo made big eyes and nodded. Jeonghan stayed composed his head bent on the side. Trying to stay humble, Hana declared, "Singing is just a hobby. I never had any lessons, and I can't read any partition. When I play instruments or sing, I guess... I do it intuitively. It does not always sound good though," she added with a smile.

"I can assure you that when you tell me that it impresses me even more," Woozi mentioned. "Since when are you singing ?"

"I guess I started singing more after my father died."

"By the way, I was wondering how your father passed away," Wonwoo began. "If I may ask ?"

Jeonghan looked at him with wide eyes and threw a pillow at him, "Wonwoo, how can you asked that so calmly ?"

Woozi and Vernon nodded agreeing with Jeonghan.

"Well, I'm just asking, but I'm not forcing her to answer."

"I'll have to explain it one day," Hana stated. "So it doesn't truly matter if it's now or later."

Hana took a deep breath before wondering, "I don't know if you already heard of the terror attack in Nice that happened on French National Day in 2016?"

Vernon put his hand in front of his mouth anticipating what Hana was about to say. Wonwoo lowered his head uneasy and Woozi stared at her wide-eyed. As for Jeonghan, he was unquestionably avoiding Hana's gaze. From their reaction, Hana inferred that they knew what happened on that particular day.

"My father took me to Nice before going to my grandparent's to celebrate the good grades I had made in my first year of high school. That evening, on La Ballade des Anglais, was clearly a good representation of what hell must be." Hana stopped for a moment, her gaze lost into the distance. "I still remember precisely the screams, the truck knocking down the people and the inert bodies. My dad was hit while saving a four-year-old boy. That boy survived; my father didn't…"

Hana could feel the tears coming to her eyes as her memories scrolled through her head. She didn't want to cry in front of them on her second day, so she took a deep breath and pursued, "I still feel uneasy in very crowded places next to or on the road. That's my trauma." Hana started singing. "I'm in trauma, it's got me singing. Stuck in trauma noraena bureullae. Blah, blah, blah, blah an ichyeoiyeo wae. That's my trauma yeah my trauma. Now, it's got me singing, singing, singing."

She looked at Wonwoo whose crumbled face described how he was feeling about his indiscreet question.

"I'm sorry I've asked," he confessed with a tense smile. "I couldn't know."

Jeonghan glanced at him with an ounce of anger silently reproaching him his insolent interrogation.

"It's alright," Hana sighed and gave them an empty smile. "I would have told you eventually. However, could you make me the pleasure to tell the others when the opportunity comes? I'm not sure I'll be able to explain this more times without crying."

A deafening silence filled the room. The loss of her dad had been a real hardship for all her family. Deep inside of her, Hana had always felt responsible for her father's death.

"Hana," Woozi began. "Would you like to listen to the song's demo?"

Hana's eyes widened, "Me? But I'm not competent at all for this kind of things."

"I need someone with an external point of view to listen to it. Also, I think you've grown up with more contact with latino music than us."

"That might be true," Hana inferred. "I'm honored, Woozi."

Her face brightened, and her smile took on colors. The guys glanced at each other agreeing on the fact that they clearly liked her that way.


	6. Chapter 5

At the end of the week, Hana was satisfied with the progress of her students. All the training sessions went on well, and every member was diligent. However, Hana was relieved to have reached the weekend as it was tiresome to teach 13 people at the same time. She had spoken with the managers and had agreed to allocate one training to each sub-units. Hana would have the choice afterward to reorganize the groups according to the level of each member. Mingyu had come up to her with the request of helping him with acting lines. He had an appearance in a drama, and his take was scheduled the following week. They had agreed to work on it as soon as the end of the week had arrived.

"You should consider sending your application to castings, once you get more confident with the Korean language," Mingyu insisted at the end of their session.

Hana lowered her head uncomfortable.

"Definitely," , who had been present while they were rehearsing, agreed. "I'm going to tell Mr. Kim to contact you: he always knows about a lot of casting opportunities."

"That's considerate of you," Hana thanked him.

She knew that she had to eventually look for job opportunities if she wanted to stay in Korea. Her contract was terminating at the end of May, after the filming of the MV. Hana had the intention to remain in the dance industry, but she wouldn't turn down the idea of acting or modeling.

On Saturday, Woozi took Hana to their recording room. There, she met Bumzu who still collaborated a lot on the songs Seventeen produced. The two of them were real music monsters: addicted and dedicated. Hana listened to the demo while Woozi and Bumzu were singing the actual lyrics. Without any surprise, the only parts missing were the ones Vernon had to write. Hana gave her advice on how they could make the song more exotic and therefore original. They added a beat and Hana declared, "Definitely makes me wanna dance on it." Both smiled as it was probably the purpose of the song.

"Could you do me a favor ?" Woozi wondered.

Hana raised one eyebrow impatient for what Woozi was going to say.

"Could you subtly offer your help to Vernon so that he can process the lyrics a bit faster than he usually does? We have to send it very soon to the upper management."

Hana burst out laughing as the image of Woozi scolding Vernon like a child crossed her mind.

"I'm going to see what I can do to help," Hana declared when she calmed down.

They decided to drink a coffee somewhere before going back to the apartment. Bumzu was an impressive artist. Both of them were real geniuses. However, Hana could feel the additional years of experience from Bumzu's words.

"You should listen to Hana singing," Woozi divulged. "She has an awesome voice. It stimulated for the first time in my life the desire to sing a duet."

"I'm a dancer, Woozi, definitely not a singer," Hana retorted.

"You can be both, you know," Bumzu stated wisely. "You currently have the perfect example under your eyes."

Woozi nodded in agreement, "Absolutely, the day I have a go from Pledis, I'll just won't leave you any choice."

Hana widened her mouth in a circular shape, "I wouldn't have imagined you that determined Woozi. I'm shocked."

"He's a real man," Bumzu asserted triggering general laughter.

When they arrived at the apartment, Hana looked for Vernon. She found him in his room working intensively on his lyrics.

"Do you want some help ?" she whispered afraid to bother him.

Vernon raised his head. Hana saw a glimmer of relief in his eyes.

"I would indeed like some external help," Vernon sighed. "I'm stuck."

He sat on his bed and invited her to take place next to him.

"You heard the demo ?" Vernon inquired.

Hana nodded and glanced at his scribbling pad. Everything was all over the place. However, Hana noticed his neat handwriting.

"Let me show you what I already have," Vernon declared starting to rap the lyrics he had already written.

As soon as he finished, he made a face and whined, "It's not optimal yet. I'm not happy with the result, and I have no inspiration on how to improve it."

Hana stared at the floor concentrated trying to reckon the lyrics and the melody of the song.

"Maybe it will be better that way," she claimed while rapping the part with slight changes.

She wasn't as experienced as Vernon. Nonetheless, she gave her best. She didn't want to create lyrics in his place. Her intention was rather to inspire him by providing hints about which parts could be improved. Vernon gave her a genuine smile before stating, "I'm feeling it now. Yes, exactly! That could be changed that way, and afterwards, we could speak about…"

It went on like this. Vernon was giving the first shot. Hana communicated her advice and opinion, which inspired Vernon. In two hours, the lyrics were settled and both were satisfied with the result.

"Thank you, Hana," Vernon said with a bright smile while taking her hand into his. "I was beginning to fall under time pressure. I'm going to see Woozi right now. I hope he approves it!"

Vernon rushed out of his room. Hana laid down on Vernon's bed glancing at her hand with a vague smile. She closed her eyes. She had had an intense week, and couldn't believe that she had met so many friendly people in such a short time. Soothed by the softness of the mattress and the smell of freshly washed sheets, Hana fell asleep.

Hana opened her eyes and saw the faces of Vernon and Joshua near hers. Surprised, she straightened up in one go. She had moved too quickly and felt suddenly dizzy.

"We weren't going to reprimand you," Joshua commented. "Are you feeling alright?"

Hana had raised her hand to her forehead, "I'm just feeling a bit dizzy as I got up too quickly."

"You're pushing yourself too hard," Vernon shook his head. "Mingyu prepared something for dinner. Do you want to come down or rest some more?"

"I'll come down, but allow me to have two more seconds to wake up."

Vernon and Joshua left her alone. Hana took a moment to recover before joining the others. Most of them had already finished eating and had gone back to their rooms. Mingyu offered her the place next to him.

"Thank you Mingyu," Hana mentioned.

Hana took mostly vegetables and mixed them with rice. Woozi who was seating in front of her glanced at her, "Thank you, Hana, for helping Vernon. Thanks to you, he did the job faster than he ever did."

"Did you approve it ?" Hana inquired.

"Yeah, the result is impressive and fitting the song. Now, we can send the final demo to the upper management to get it approved."

Vernon was smiling, proud of his good deed. Hana couldn't stop but laugh as she imagined Vernon as a child getting a sweet treat.

Hana's phone vibrated. Joshua, Vernon, Mingyu and Woozi stared at her interested in who it was. Hana stopped eating and grabbed her phone. She had received a bunch of landscape photographs. The message under it just said in French "Look what I've found in the albums of your parent's room."

"It's Josie," Hana explained. "She was my father's nanny, and she is the one who is taking care of our house in Switzerland. Josie just sent me a bunch of pictures of the Swiss landscapes and our house, which she found in some albums. Do you wanna see some pictures of where I come from?"

They nodded. Hana started to show them the photographs.

"Wow," Mingyu exclaimed. "The landscapes are magical. Look at this lake with the big mountains behind. I want to go there."

"Is that your house ?" Joshua wondered when Hana scrolled to the next picture.

"Yes, it is. You have to know that my grandparents on my father's side are quite wealthy. My father was supposed to inherit of this house. Well, now, I guess, it might rather go to my brother and me."

"Is your brother younger or older than you ?" Mingyu inquired.

"Two years younger, but much taller than me. If I do remember well, he must be 1m90 now. His name is Liam."

Mingyu raised his eyebrows surprised.

"Yeah, that comes from the German side of our family."

An idea crossed her mind. Hana opened her eyes wide, "Guys, why don't you offer to film the MV in Switzerland? The sceneries could get impressive, and everyone could stay at my place."

The guys stayed silent for a while. Mingyu took Hana's hand in his and looked at her with sparkling eyes.

"You're the smartest, Hana. That's unquestionably the idea of the year." He had a glance around him, "Where is ? We need to tell him right away about that excellent offer of yours."

"It could be fun. Don't you think ?" Hana asked while turning towards the three others.

"Oh my god!" Joshua beamed. "I'd love to go."

"Oh yeah," Vernon added.

"We just need the management to approve that," Woozi stated.

Woozi's words instantly broke the excitement of the moment. Everyone realized that it would be difficult to persuade Pledis. However, it was never too late to try at least.


	7. Chapter 6

The demo and the idea of filming the MV in Switzerland had been brought up to Pledis' upper management. However, after two weeks, there was still no answer. Seventeen's schedule had been dedicated to training with Hana and a weekend off had been set for the members to go home. Everyone had planned to see their beloved ones despite Joshua, Jun, and The8 whose families were living in other countries. Hana had had a lot of fun during her first three weeks with Seventeen. Each member was different from the other. She could not even count the number of times she could not stay serious in their company. Such charming kidders. In the short period spent together, Hana had already spotted unique characteristics she valued in each one of them. She considered herself being incredibly lucky to have found the job and taken a step towards the unknown. Hana told herself every day that it had been worth it. Her affection was growing as the days passed and she couldn't even imagine not having got to know them.

Joshua had organized a day in Seoul with Jun and Minghao to show Hana around. As the two Chinese members had something planned on Sunday, Mingyu had invited them to his family's place. Vernon and DK had expressed their desire to join the party. Hana was excited as it was the first weekend they weren't working in any ways.

Someone knocked at her door.

"Are you ready ?" Joshua's voice resonated.

"I'm coming!"

Hana had taken some more time to make herself pretty. She was wearing jeans with a light blue blouse. As it was still cold outside, she took a black trench coat and a gray scarf out of her closet which added elegance to her style. Her look changed from the joggers the members were used to see her in. She opened the door on Joshua who was the first one ready to go. Joshua's eyes widened, "Wow, Hana what's that? Are you going on a date?"

"Mh," she winked. "I was invited to go out today, so allow me the pleasure to dress up and be pretty."

"Not only pretty," Jun who appeared behind Joshua said. "Stunning !"

"Stop with the compliments, guys," Hana stated with a shy smile. "I'm going to blush for real if you don't stop."

"I'm ready!" The8 exclaimed appearing in the hallway.

As soon as he started to open his mouth in reaction to Hana's appearance, she jumped on him and put her index in front of his mouth.

"Don't make a sound Minghao. Let's go and enjoy the day without silly compliments."

Hana had agreed to call The8 Minghao and DK either Dokyeom or Seokmin. For all other members with an artist name, she couldn't bring herself to call them by their birth name. She didn't know why but, they accepted that it was difficult to call someone by a different name from the one you've got used to.

Walking in the street with Joshua, Minghao, and Jun who had their surgical masks on, Hana realized how happy she was being able to roam freely outside without having to hide her face.

"You know that in Switzerland even if people do recognize a celebrity, they don't necessarily approach that person," Hana commented. "That's why Switzerland is known to be a paradise for celebrities because they can almost run freely around without being bothered."

"One more reason to go there!" Minghao declared raising his eyes to the sky. "I'd love to have a time out of that constant attention. It's not that I dislike it! I feel so grateful towards all the Carats who support us but you know, it sometimes gets overwhelming."

"I understand," Hana agreed with sparkling eyes. "You're still human after all. Everyone needs some time out, believe me."

"It's true that it's been a while since we didn't have any holidays," Joshua observed.

"If Pledis accepts the idea, I promise, I will organize holidays you won't forget."

"Let's hope hard, then." Jun appealed.

Hana had taken out her camera. She loved to capture memories of her way of looking at the world. While sightseeing, Hana was taking pictures of the boys either with their phones or with the camera.

"Don't you want to be on pictures as well ?" Minghao asked.

"Ah, well," Hana stated. "I'm used to be the one taking pictures, so I tend to forget that I'm not on them."

Hana knew from his Instagram page that she could believe in Minghao as a photographer. Hana admitted to herself that taking good photographs was something that was running in Asian blood. However, she wouldn't have trusted Vernon on that for example. Minghao took some pictures of Hana alone. She tried hard to be creative in her pose. Joshua joined her followed by Jun.

"Let's do a selfie and send it to the others," Joshua offered while grabbing Minghao by the arm inciting him to join them.

The selfies turned out crazy and, in the end, they all decided to send the one where Jun was carrying Hana on his back and Joshua Minghao.

"I'll send one of Hana alone that I snapped while you were doing your improvised photoshoot," Joshua grinned. "We have to show everyone what they are missing today."

"Joshua don't!" Hana warned him while chasing after him trying her best to grab his phone.

"Too late!" he exulted after a moment. "The bad deed is already done."

Hana took back her breath and smiled, "I should take you to court for harming my image."

"Oh!" Jun exclaimed. "They are already answering."

"Show me that," Hana blurted rushing on Jun taking his phone out of his hands.

Joshua started reading the comments aloud, "So Mingyu wants us to convince you to make efforts more often. Seungcheol says his heart is broken. Hana is Woozi's muse from now on. Vernon has no words. Seungkwan feels ugly. Dino and Jeonghan are impressed. Dokyeom is looking forward to seeing you tomorrow." He stopped and laughed hard while Hana turned out red. "Hoshi and Wonwoo are the best! Hoshi is asking if she might be interested in playing his girlfriend in front of his family and Wonwoo assures that if Hana were a member of Seventeen, she'd be his bias without hesitation. I love them so much!"

"As expected," Minghao commented with a grin on his face. "The guys could never deceive us!"

Hana squatted her face hidden behind her hands and whined, "Please, let me die…"

Jun came to her and put his hands on her shoulder, "Hana, you shouldn't be sad because you're pretty."

The two other guys started to laugh while Hana pouted. With a glimmer of determination in her eyes, she jumped on her feet and started walking in one direction encouraging the guys to pursue their visit of Korea's capital.

Hana was always grateful when she was able to explore a part of the world she didn't know. This weekend was, therefore, a real gift for her. The guys had taken her first to the Bukchon Hanok village and then to the Ihwa Mural village. While wandering around the streets of both places taking pictures and making fun out of nothing, they had lost the sense of time. It was only when Jun's stomach growled loudly that they eventually realized that it was time to make a stop. Being very hungry, the guys decided to eat at a Chinese restaurant a few stations away from Ihwa-dong. Hana was not that enthusiastic about it because of her restrictions on meat. However, she trusted Jun who assured her that at that restaurant she would have plenty of meatless meal choices. Eventually, Hana ordered for the first time in her life vegetarian "Baozi."

Further to that, Hana understood their decision when the waiter brought them into a private room. They wanted to take a break of their constant worry to be recognized. It was their day off after all!

Minghao's phone rang during the meal, "Hey! How are you doing, Bro? Oh, you have time today? Sure, I'm with Jun, Joshua and our dance coach. Let's meet then at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza around 6 pm. Sounds amazing! See ya later Bro."

"Who was it?" Joshua wondered.

"Samuel," Jun answered instead of Minghao.

"Oh! Our maknae," Joshua said. "It's been forever since I've last seen him."

Hana's eyes widened, "Are you referring to the Samuel I'm thinking of?"

"That's likely," Minghao grinned. "It's been a while that we are trying to find some time to see each other."

"Oh my god!" Hana chortled while clapping in her hands. "Today is my lucky day."

"Hey! I thought you were a fan of Seventeen only," Joshua expressed.

"Yeah," Hana defended herself. "Samuel was once a part of Seventeen, don't you agree? Oh gosh! I'm excited. I have to make sure he follows me on Instagram at the end of the day!"

Minghao and Jun started laughing.

"You are crazy!" Joshua teased.

"Oh, you just noticed?" Hana retorted with an amused wink.

Jun who was sitting next to Hana decided to be clingy. He laid his head on her shoulder purring, "I love you, Hana."  
Hana took in the scenery and stroke Jun's hair. Joshua immediately grabbed his phone to make a picture. Before Hana could say anything, the phones lying on the table vibrated. The bad deed had been done again.

The sun was setting when they walked out of the restaurant. For March, however, the weather was quite pleasant. As they weren't that far from DDP, they decided to walk there. However, the streets became more crowded as they approached their destination.

"What's going on here?" Jun wondered.

"Some protest demonstration probably," Minghao guessed.

Hana was beginning to feel uneasy. She had avoided crowded places, especially the ones easily accessible by vehicles, for almost eight years now.

"We have no other option than go through," Jun declared upset.

And so they started to force their way through the mass. Hana began shivering as the memories of the worst night of her life came back to her mind. She could still see the truck clearly and the sound it made when it hit her father's body. She grabbed Joshua's arm as if it was the only thing that could bring her back to reality. Joshua looked at her surprised by her sudden move. Hana's face had lost all its color, and her eyes were widened up in fear. On top of that, she was continuously whispering to herself, "Hana, there is no truck, no truck, no truck."

Jun and Minghao, worried as well, met Joshua's gaze. Joshua made a sign to encourage them to get as quickly as possible through the animated crowd. As soon as they made it to the Cheonggyecheon stream, Hana exhaled loudly.

"Are you okay?" Joshua wondered.

"I'm fine now," Hana assured while raising up her eyes to the scenery in front of her. "Wow, it's beautiful."

Like an excited child, she ran towards the fence that was overlooking the promenade along the stream. Joshua glanced over at Jun and Minghao who both shrugged their shoulders confused by the sudden change in Hana's behavior. Hana leaned over the fence and breathed in the fresh air to better swallow the tears that had come to her eyes. She didn't want to seem weak.

"Where is this famous DDP ?" Hana wondered turning towards the guys with a bright smile on her face.

"A little further away," Minghao answered. "I think you will love this place and hopefully Samuel will be up for a walk next to the Cheonggyecheon stream."

"If not," Hana proclaimed. "I'll motivate him!"

Arrived at DDP, Hana first took out her camera. The place was a source of inspiration for every artistic person. The curves of the building and the various lights made Hana travel far away from her nightmares. As soon as she discovered the LED rose garden, a song came up to her mind, and she started to move with the flow of the music.

"No I ain't perfect, never said I was perfect. And I'm putting it all on a prayer now. No, I ain't perfect, never said I was perfect. This ain't my finest hour. Might see my flaws today. My words are out of order. Maybe my drink's to blame. Emptying all my pockets. 'Til I don't feel a thing. This ain't my finest hour."

Wholly immersed in her world, she didn't realize that Samuel had joined the party. It was alone when she came back giggling, "Joshua, we definitely need to take some pictures," that she noticed the additional person.

"Oh gosh," she gasped. "How long has he been here?"

"Long enough to have noticed how cute and passionate you are," Samuel professed with a smile. "Seventeen can be quite happy to have you. It must be funny every day. Makes me feel a bit jealous though."

"Today is the day I could bury myself underground," Hana vociferated. "I'm such an embarrassment to the world."

Jun took her in his arms acting clingy again, "Don't tell that, Hana. We are so happy to have you! And if you are an embarrassment to the world, then I don't know what most of our members are."

Appreciating the comfort given by Jun, Hana laughed, "True!"

"So let's take some pictures then," Samuel declared taking a selfie stick out of nowhere.

Hana started having the giggles without any reasons. It might have been her previous despair trying to come out in a certain way. Her laughing became contagious, and their selfie session turned into a mess as they worked hard to remain serious. Nevertheless, each picture that came out was unique and memorable.

During their walk along Cheonggyecheon stream, while Joshua, Jun, and Minghao took the lead, Hana started talking to Samuel in English.

"I feel so honored to have met you, Samuel. I have to confess that I might not know all of your songs, but I'm a fervent follower of your Instagram account. Your English descriptions were always much appreciated!"

He glanced at her with a kind smile settled on his lips, "And I feel honored to have met you. I think that most of Seventeen members don't even know you have an inspiring Instagram account and I don't wanna mention your Youtube channel that has some amazing content. Checking you on social media was the first thing I've done when Minghao told me about you."

Hana felt the heat coming to her cheeks, "I'm not the kind of person bragging around, you know."

"So, I'm right." Samuel insisted with a wink. "They don't know with what kind of jewel they are working. Gosh, I envy them!"

Hana's eyes widened, "If you already went on my Instagram account, would it bother you to follow me?"

Hana lowered her gaze as her insolent question repeated in a loop in her head. Samuel stopped walking and was looking at her surprised, "You want me to?"

"I'm not asking for your hand," Hana conveyed more embarrassed than ever. "If you don't want to, then just forget my demand."

Samuel laughed openly, "It will be my pleasure, Hana, to follow you on Instagram."

Hana grinned and raised her arms to the sky while shouting, "Yaaaasss!"


	8. Chapter 7

Hana woke up on Sunday with a smile on her face. She had forgotten all about the alarming episode of the previous day. It had been planned to meet Vernon at the nearest station and take the public transportation together to Anyang. There, Mingyu and Dokyeom will be waiting for them at the Anyang Art Park.

When Joshua and Hana went out of the apartment's building, it was still early for a Sunday morning.

"I hope Vernon could wake up. He must have put the alarm clock earlier than we did," Hana observed.

"You know Vernon is the kind of person to wake up, put some clothes on and be ready for the day," Joshua grinned. "He does not care too much about his appearance."

"Oh yeah," Hana laughed. "I still hear Seungkwan saying that only confident people can behave like that."

"They are quite of the opposite," Joshua agreed. "Vernon cares about his appearance on an entirely different level than Seungkwan, who sometimes cares a bit too much though. But you aren't someone that cares a lot as well, are you?"

"I think it depends on the situation," Hana confessed. "When I'm motivated to, I like to dress up a bit. Otherwise, my main request in fashion is being comfortable but without appearing too messy though."

"By the way, you are looking great again today!" Joshua complimented her.

Hana gave him a shy smile. Under her trench coat and scarf, she was wearing a grey circle skirt with leather combat boots and a black turtleneck pullover.

"The heels make me feel small though," he laughed.

"They aren't even five centimeters tall," Hana accused while showing him her feet.

"We can be quite happy that Woozi doesn't see you today otherwise he would certainly feel like a midget."

Hana's face crinkled in frank laughter, "If he does not already!"

Arrived at the station, Hana spotted Vernon and waved at him. He was wearing a hat as usually with an oversized sweater and an army green trench coat.

"Did you sleep well?" Hana wondered when he reached them.

"Good but too short," Vernon mumbled glancing at her from bottom to top. "Are you going on a date today?"

Joshua burst out laughing, and Hana became red.

"May you allow me to dress up when I wish to?" Hana groaned.

Vernon, confused, glanced over at Joshua.

"I've asked her the same yesterday," he explained, and Vernon nodded, understanding Hana's reaction.

Vernon looked at his feet before confessing, "Either way, you are beautiful."

Hana surprised by the honest compliment stared at Vernon with a frozen look before responding sincerely, "Thank you, Vernon."

While traveling in the subway Line 7, Hana noticed something.

"Gosh !" she jabbered. "I'm alone with my beloved Team Rocket. Guys, we need to take a picture. Back in America, that was one of my high-school dreams. I need some proof that I made one of my dreams come true."

Vernon and Joshua, who were enjoying the journey to rest some more, opened their eyes sleepy.

"What was your dream?" Joshua wanted to confirm.

"Be friends with the Team Rocket."

"Meeting Seventeen wasn't one of your dreams?" Vernon wondered.

"Mh," Hana confessed. "No, Team Rocket was my priority back then."

"Oh," Joshua chuckled. "How come I'm feeling honored right now."

Hana smiled, "Come on guys; please pose!"

She took a dozen selfies making sure that everyone was varying their pose. Happy with the result, Hana held her phone tight to her chest, "Thank you, guys. That means a lot to me."

"Can you send them to us?" Vernon wondered. "We don't have a lot of team Rocket pictures, I just noticed."

"True !" Joshua confirmed. "Now that we have a new Rocket team fellow, it was a nice idea to capture the moment."

Hana's eyes widened, "You consider me as part of Team Rocket?"

"Well," Joshua admitted. "I don't know about Vernon, but to me, you are a precious friend… hmm, nearly the little sister I never had. So Team Rocket for me you are."

As for Vernon, he smiled glancing at Hana laying her head on Joshua's shoulder, but he didn't speak out on that particular matter.

After having changed one time to take a bus, they arrived at their destination: Anyang Art Park. From what Hana could see from the window of the bus, the place was huge. The alarming clouds in the sky had spooked the crowd. Indeed, Hana only saw a dozen people when they got off at the bus station. They got spotted by Mingyu and DK, who almost ran towards them to take Hana in his arms.

"Is that your new way of saying 'hello' ?" Hana inquired trying her best to push away Dokyeom who was sticking to her.

"You were missed, Hana," Dokyeom confessed while letting go of her. "Wow, it seems like we have a date together today, you and I."

He gave her a wink with a half-smile. Mingyu came between them, putting his arms around Hana and DK's shoulders, and declared, "And you two have a date with me, then."

"And with me," Joshua added, imposing.

"What about me then?" Vernon asked upset.

Hana freed herself from Mingyu's grasp and walked past Vernon in the direction of the park, "If you wanna have a date with me, then you should ask me, Vernon."

Hana who was already far ahead didn't see Vernon blushing at her words. Only the guys did, however, they didn't bother Vernon with it. Taking advantage of Hana's absence, Joshua recounted the weird episode Jun, Minghao and he had with Hana on the previous day. Vernon was the only one who could help them understand Hana's behavior by explaining about her past.

"She told us to tell you, but we forgot," Vernon admitted. "It is difficult for her to be in crowded places because of the painful memories which are coming back to her mind."

"She is such a brave person," Joshua confessed staring out into the distance. "I'm so happy that Hana came into our lives like that, humble, authentic, funny and kind."

At that moment, Hana appeared from a way on the left and exclaimed out of breath, "Come on, guys, I've discovered something. It looks insane!"

She led them to a circle of glass that had been installed in an asymmetrical order in the middle of the forest. Hana, excited by her discovery, was gracefully jumping and dancing around the art piece like a Celtic priestess.

"Look at that," Hana declared pointing out at her changing reflection. "Mingyu, don't you think that it deserves a picture. This park is such a nice place for you to get some Instagram footage."

While they were taking photos both individually and together, Dokyeom wondered, "How was it yesterday?"

"It was so nice. Seoul is a 'Kinder surprise': there is something to discover around each corner. I will take some time to wander around in the next few weeks. And I made a new friend yesterday!"

"You did?" Vernon asked curiously while glancing at Joshua. "Who did you meet yesterday?"

"Hmm, it's true that you all haven't seen him in a long time," Joshua conceded.

"Who?" Vernon grew impatient.

"Did you get him to follow you on Instagram?" Joshua investigated ignoring Vernon's inquiry.

"Mhm, I did!" Hana gloated.

"Guys, Vernon is going to freak out if you keep it a secret longer," Mingyu grinned.

"Okay, okay," Joshua nodded. "Minghao got a call yesterday from Samuel saying that he had some time free. We met him at DDP and went for a walk along the Cheonggyecheon stream. Hana and Samuel had a long talk though."

"He is as nice as I had imagined," Hana admitted, her eyes sparkling. "He even asked me what I was planning to do after my time with you guys and gave me some tips. And, and, and he is going to put me in contact with a casting director for dramas and movies produced in Korea. Samuel is just like that!" Hana raised her two thumbs up.

Vernon released the tension that he had built up while getting upset and acknowledged, "Samuel is a good person. He has always been."

DK took advantage of Vernon's words to tease him, "Ooooooh Vernoona."

Vernon chased after Dokyeom trying to punch him for his unwelcomed cheesiness. Hana's clear laugh floated through the air like a melody. She was soon followed by Mingyu and Joshua.

"It never gets boring with us, does it?" Mingyu asked Hana.

"Indeed, I can always count on you to cheer me up!"

Mingyu put her arm around her shoulder and declared, confident, "We will always be there to cheer you up, Hana."

Hana, warmhearted, looked up at Mingyu who smiled at her. Deep into her heart, Hana hoped he was right and that, for nothing in the world, she would ever lose the precious friendship she had built with Seventeen.

They had walked around for at least four hours and had discovered the beauties and curiosities of the Anyang Art Park. Hana was happy that she had taken snacks for everyone in the morning. It had been enough to calm down their craving stomachs. They were invited at Mingyu's place in the late afternoon. Mingyu had already pointed out that his mum had begun to prepare the meals with him the day before. On their way back to the bus station, it started to rain. They took shelter under a temple.

"I didn't anticipate that," Mingyu stated. "Let's wait a bit here until it calms down."

"I love rain," Hana claimed while taking out her Bluetooth speakers and putting some music on.

Vernon glanced at her surprised, "Do you take it everywhere you go?"

Hana gave him a fierce look, "Always."

She played 'Silence' by Marshmello and started dancing. Moving with grace, Hana was one with the music and the rain falling around her. Mingyu, fascinated, took his camera out to film her: the scenery was magical. Her dancing was so natural that the boys couldn't tell if she was improvising or if she was following a set choreography. The beat of the chorus was leading her feet the way to touch the ground.

"What kind of dance is it?" DK wondered.

"It's contemporary dance," Joshua observed. "It is so beautiful that it looks like a rain dance."

When the music ended, and the next song played, Hana's eyes sparkled, "My phone knows me so well! Come on guys; you know this one."

And so she started lip-synching on 'Healing.' Vernon was impressed to see how in a few weeks only Hana had improved her skills to imitate each member. He met Mingyu's surprised gaze when Hana mimicked his part almost at perfection. At the beginning of the chorus, Dokyeom and Joshua joined her. "Now dive in dive in dive in dive in." At the same moment, the three of them, aligned under the rain, made a wave with one hand while holding their nose close with the other. Mingyu was still filming. They were soaking wet. However, they were having fun. DK was laughing so hard that he was almost falling on the ground. Joshua and Hana were jumping like crazy and trying hard to imitate the member who was singing his part in the song. A feeling of warmth that Vernon couldn't explain grew inside him while looking at them. As the song ended, the rain stopped pouring. Mingyu showed his camera to Hana, "I have some footage for you."

Hana raised her thumbs up, "It must look good. Thank you so much Mingyu!"

"Let's go, guys!" Mingyu suggested. "My mum is looking forward to seeing you all, and especially Hana."

"Thank you, that makes me not feel pressured at all," Hana declared ironically.

"Come on," DK assured. "Mingyu's family is kind and warm-hearted."

Vernon's belly growled so loudly that everyone stopped walking to look at him. Dokyeom laughed, "We should hurry otherwise someone is going to get grumpy."

"I'm never grumpy," Vernon pointed out.

The guys gave each other significant glances. Hana agreed with them: despite the appearances, Vernon could be grumpy sometimes.

When they arrived at Mingyu's place, a poodle welcomed them with a waving tail. Hana directly fell in love with the dog. She couldn't stop herself from petting him and speaking to him with a high-pitched voice. From her youngest age, she had always been around dogs as her dad always had one or two of them.

"You should have told me that you had a dog, Mingyu," Hana reprimanded him.

"I could not have guessed that you'd love him that much," he defended himself. "Come on, Hana. You are not going to stay on the doorstep forever. Kimchi is not going to disappear."

"Oh, his name is Kimchi," Hana chirped petting the dog again. "Hey Kimchi, I'm Hana."

Mingyu rolled his eyes. Dokyeom contained himself not to burst into laughter. Joshua and Vernon were looking at Hana not knowing what they should think about her actions. A woman of mature age appeared in the hallway, "Mingyu, I was worried about you when it started to rain. Omo, but you are all soaking wet. Joshua, DK, come one here. I'm going to give you some of Mingyu's clothes you can change in."

Hana had stopped petting Kimchi and was standing, frozen. She was afraid of doing something wrong, "Annyeonghaseyo, I'm Hana. It's very nice to meet you."

Mingyu's mum took her hands in hers, "The pleasure is mine. I'm so happy that my big boy is associated with a girl like you." Mingyu's eyes widened as his mum spoke. "You know these boys are only around these skinny and diet-addicted girls. As a mum, I don't like that."

Mingyu had hidden his face in his hands. A smile took shape on Vernon's face, and Dokyeom couldn't stop himself from laughing, "I can assure you, Mrs. Kim, that Hana sometimes eats as Mingyu does."

Hana slammed her head on Mingyu's shoulder as she began to feel embarrassed. She was surprised when Mrs. Kim took her by the hand and led her into a bathroom, "Let me give you some dry clothes as well." Before closing the door on Hana, she added, "Boys, I'll let you change in Mingyu's room and Hana I'll be back with you in one minute."

Hana took advantage of the time to sit down on the toilet and control her fast beating heart. She exhaled loudly and spoke to herself, "You're doing fine, just fine."

Even if she seemed externally confident with people, she wasn't. Hana had always been a shy person with strangers, and it took her a lot of effort to work that out. Therefore, she still had some difficulties relaxing internally when meeting new people. 'It's not like you are getting presented to his family because you're getting married,' she thought to herself while hitting her forehead with her fists. Mingyu's mum came into the bathroom, "As you are quite tall, I don't think that my daughter's clothes or mine will fit you." She presented Hana some of what seemed to be Mingyu's old clothes: a white sweatshirt and black joggers.

"That's all that I've found," she apologized before leaving her alone.

It's only when Hana put it on that she recognized the outfit. She had to roll up the sweatpants as they were too long for her. When she came out of the bathroom, she directly addressed Mingyu, "That's quite a unique piece that I'm wearing." She gladly spun around herself to show them her Idol Star Athletics Championship outfit with the name Mingyu and the number 17 written in her back.

"Oh!" Mingyu exclaimed. "I didn't know I had still this one." He turned toward his comrades. "2017, wasn't it?"

Vernon nodded in approbation. Mingyu added, "If you promise me you won't sell it on eBay, I'm willing to gift it to you."

Hana's eyes widened, "Really? Omo, I'm going to cherish it 'til I die. I promise."

"You're lucky that it shrank a bit in the wash," Mrs. Kim mentioned.

Hana thanked her with a deep bow. Joshua commented with a half-smile, "Hana is like Vernon. Whatever they wear, they will always look good. Such hipsters!"

Hana's gaze met Vernon's, and she gave him a hesitant smile. Vernon expressed with a sigh, "Seems that Joshua has categorized us, Hana."

"Happy to share the hipster tag together with you Vernon," she confessed with enthusiasm.

He raised his eyebrows and gave her a high five. Hana added, "You are team Rocket with Joshua and team Hipster with me."

Vernon laughed sincerely, "That makes me quite happy."

"Where is your sister Mingyu?" Mrs. Kim interrupted. "I've asked her to help me serve the dishes."

Hana volunteered, "Mrs. Kim, please let me help you!"

"No, no, no, if Mingyu doesn't know where his sister is, then he will help."

"We can both help, Umma," Mingyu offered.

"She is our invitee," his mum reprimanded him. "Hana darling; just stay with the boys while Mingyu helps me prepare everything, will you."

Hana didn't want to insist more and therefore nodded. Hana was petting Kimchi while conversing with Joshua, Dokyeom, and Vernon when her phone rang. It was her mum. She excused herself and answered to her mum in English, "Hey mummy, how are you?"

From what she could hear, Hana inferred that her mum was doing fine. She was probably under anti-depressant pills. Unfortunately, her mum had tried to cut them off but, eventually, the doctor had decided on Hana's consent that she couldn't live without anymore. Hana was fine with that as she knew that it was helping her mum to cheer up and enjoy her life.

"It's your grandfather's birthday," her mum declared. "I hope you didn't forget."

She had thought of it in the morning but wasn't able to call because of the time difference. Hana was happy that her mum had reminded her though.

"I'm going to call them right away, mummy," Hana promised her. "Oh, Liam is in France. That's nice to hear. Yeah, mummy, I will greet him as well."

She hung up and excused herself some more to the boys who were already sitting around the table. She dialed the number of her grandma as she knew that her grandpa wouldn't answer. When her grandma picked up, Hana started speaking in French. Both her grandparents were doing fine, and her grandma was wondering when Hana will visit them. Hana explained to her that, at the time being, she had a lot of things to do but that she will try to grab the next opportunity she will get to come to France. Her grandma told her how happy she was that Liam had found some time to come over from Japan but that she was, however, worried that Hana's mum was left alone. Hana agreed and felt sad for having left her mum's side by coming to Korea. Hana felt responsible for her father's death and more so for her mum's depression. Her grandma gave the phone to her grandpa, and Hana sang him 'Happy Birthday' in German. When she put down the phone, the boys sitting were looking at her with eyebrows raised.

"How many languages did you speak?" Dokyeom wondered.

"Well, English with my mum, French with my grandma and German with my grandpa," she answered before apologizing. "I'm so sorry it was my grandpa's birthday, and my mum wanted to make sure that I won't forget it. Time difference gets me confused sometimes."

"We weren't able to recognize the language. However, we did 'recognize' the song," Joshua laughed.

"Did you forget?" Vernon asked seriously.

Hana replied with a smile, "I wanted to call them this morning but time difference played against me. Therefore, I'm happy that my mum reminded me."

Mingyu came back with his mum and a girl. They were bringing a lot of plates filled with various side dishes. The bellies of the four sitting growled together at the sight and smell of the food.

After having 'arranger' the plates on the table, Mingyu's mum announced, "Hana, this is Mingyu's sister, Minseo." Hana bowed her head politely. "Unfortunately, Mingyu's father could not make it today. He does not know what he is missing though. Mingyu helped me a lot in the preparation of the dinner. We are quite the winning combo."

She gave her son a proud smile. Mingyu's sister sat next to Hana, and with great eagerness, they started eating.

"I think I've already seen you somewhere," Minseo asserted after a moment while glancing at Hana. "But I can't reckon where."

"It might have been on social media," Hana guessed. "I'm active both on Instagram and YouTube under the name Hana B."

Minseo's eyes widened, "Now, I remember. I used to watch all your videos, I think, until four years ago. Your channel was so various! I loved it."

"I wasn't present for the last few years," Hana confessed. "I apologize. However, I think I'll post some more when my contract with Pledis finishes as I will have more time to think about good content."

Mingyu raised a hand to express, "Hana, you can post what I've filmed today. It was filmed with my non-professional skill, but the scenery was killing it."

"Hmm," Hana agreed with a smile. "Allow me first to see the footage, and then I will see what I can make out of it."

Minseo clapped in her hands, "That will be nice! It's time for you to bring your channel back to life."

The entire table laughed.

"Even the manager spoke of your channel," Dokyeom noticed. "But we haven't seen any video from it."

"I did," Mingyu confessed.

Dokyeom, Joshua and Vernon gave him an appalled look and blurted at the same time, "How?"

Mingyu shrugged his shoulders with an innocent face, "Just like that."

Dokyeom gave Mingyu a flick on his forehead and scolded him, "Why don't you show us too instead of keeping it to you, you clumsy brat."

Hana burst into laughter soon followed by Mingyu's mum and Minseo. 'They are just too extra to stay serious for a second,' Hana thought while wiping the tears that had formed at the corner of her eyes.

The day came to an end. A manager had been appointed to bring the party back to Seoul. Hana thanked Mingyu's mum for her kindness and hospitality. When Hana praised how well Mrs. Kim had raised her children, she held on to Hana's hands and declared, "Your parents did too, Hana. You are an adorable girl, and I will thank god if one day you'd become my daughter-in-law."

Hana's face turned on burning red. Vernon, who was on the doorstep with Mingyu, tried hard to hide his laughter. As for Mingyu, he grabbed his mother hands to make her let go of Hana, "Mum, don't bother Hana with such requests." He pushed Hana out of the house and babble to his mum.

Everyone was quiet during the trip back to Seoul: all probably tired. When they arrived at the apartment, it was already late, but the members had all gathered in the living room for their monthly 'team meeting.' had agreed with the others that it was a great way to exchange and bring up both positive and negative thoughts of each member. Everyone had been waiting for the four missing members. Hana quickly greeted them before going into her room in order not to disturb them.

During their meeting, Joshua took the opportunity to explain Hana's alarming episode he had with Jun and Minghao. Vernon explained with the support of Wonwoo, Jeonghan, and Woozi the story behind Hana's trauma. After that, the meeting went on as usual. Each member had the opportunity to share his thoughts with the others. Vernon's turn came, and he declared with a serious tone, "I have a confession to make, guys. As I never really felt that way, I don't know what to do about it… however, I'm sure of one thing."

He lowered his head, thoughtful. Seungkwan, alarmed by Vernon's gloomy look, put a hand on his shoulder and comforted him, "Come on, buddy. What is it? You know that we will always have your back, don't you?"

Vernon smiled at him and glanced at his comrades with a determined gaze, "Guys… I'm in love."


	9. Chapter 8

The demo got approved the Monday after. Hana had been looking forward to that as it meant that the real work was just about to start. She had to team up with Hoshi, Dino, Minghao, and Jun to create a unique choreography. Hana had an appointment with Pledis' CEO and creative team to pitch her idea to film the MV in Switzerland. had expressed his concern and offered his support. They had planned to see each other to prepare a persuasive presentation, including a precise budget and offers from filming companies and photographers. Hana had shared her intention to reach out to the Alumni network of her father to get convincing deals. As was the member who knew their CEO the best, he was in charge of writing the presentation for Hana. As they were put under time pressure by the company, they had scheduled to work on it directly after their training for the rest of the week. On Monday, Hana used the time zone difference to contact all suppliers in charge of the artistic sides of the trip while called airline companies. Hana was grateful to him for his support. He was the one to know at best what kind of staff would be needed on the spot and how many would accompany them from Korea.

The members were still confused by Vernon's confession. They had tried to dissuade Vernon by challenging him that it might only be a crush. It wasn't. Vernon was more determined than ever to make everything out of his feelings. "You know that feeling that tells you now or never." The guys knew that Vernon wasn't the type of person to give away his heart easily. Once he had decided something by himself, it was because he meant it from the bottom of his heart.

"You know that it's dangerous for you, for us, and for her, don't you?" had inquired.

"I'm perfectly aware of that," Vernon had replied with a serious tone. "I will not let it harm Seventeen in any way, I promise. Let's see, first, what she is going to say about my feelings."

Hoshi had wondered, "Am I the only one wanting to protect her from that?"

"I agree," Jun had added while Joshua nodded fervently.

Mingyu had ended the conversation by saying, "If she does not want you, Vernon, could I take a chance?"

As a reply, Vernon had thrown a pillow at Mingyu who had laughed genuinely, "Just kidding lover boy."

Vernon was well aware of the possible consequences his growing feelings for Hana could have. However, he wanted to follow the inner voice telling him, "Boy, it's now or never." Moreover, it was the first time he felt his heart fluttering at a person's every expression and action.

The first time he had felt all fizzy inside had been the day he had joined Hana in her YouTube discoveries. He had been so surprised on how expressive she was when watching videos. He had suggested her to put on their immortal song performances. There hadn't even been a second he hadn't been looking at her getting all excited about Joshua's look and Dokyeom's voice, complaining about his blond hair color, telling him how they were all such 'badass' performers and entertainers, being upset about Mingyu's absence and fascinated by Vernon's sexy glance.

"Who do you want to kill with that look of yours?" she had asked him replicating his attractive expression.

Vernon hadn't even had the chance to reply. Hana had put back on the songs and had started dancing in the living room. Hana was always cheerful and sincere in her actions and words: doing things that made her happy at any times. To some people, Hana would probably seem excessive or naive. However, she was the exact opposite: a down to earth person trying to take the most out of life.

"Come on, Vernon," Hana had declared laughing. "What are you waiting for?"

'Crazy,' one might tell. To Vernon, she was just undeniably attractive.

The members had agreed to wait to see how Vernon's situation was going to evolve before making any decisions as a group. Luckily for Vernon, no member was strictly against the possibility of him dating Hana. Seungkwan had declared, critical, "I think it would even help him mature a bit." Hana being busy every evening getting ready for her pitch, Vernon hadn't found the opportunity to express his feelings. He wasn't sure to have the courage. Hence, he wanted to wait for a moment when he will be confident enough to open his heart to Hana.

A few training sessions were still scheduled for the week. However, a three weeks break was planned afterward for Hana to work exclusively with the performance team on a choreography. The days flew by, and Friday came sooner than Hana had expected. She went with to their CEO's office. Hana was afraid of the presentation, but she was confident in the content. She and had done such precise research, and their offer was almost completed. Hana had promised to treat him for lunch after the pitch to thank him for his support. Both went out of the room with a smile on their face. The idea had been accepted, and a team had been assigned to work further on the planning of the project.

"Thank you so much Coups," Hana declared. "I wasn't sure if they would accept the five days holiday part, but I'm so happy they did. I'm going to make sure you guys will have some good memories."

"We are grateful to you, Hana, for doing so much for all of us."

"I am doing less for you than you all did for me," Hana expressed blushing.

interrupted her, "Don't try to argue on what I've said. We all think so. You just need to accept it."

As the boys had to record their song the week after, Hana took some time for herself. In the morning she would enjoy a walk somewhere in Seoul where the cherry trees were already blooming. After that, she would try to work for Samantha and research job opportunities and apartments. Hana would usually meet the performance team in the late afternoon and evening to discuss the choreography. They had begun to work on a series of movements, brainstorming altogether to bring up creative ideas.

On Saturday, it was Mingyu's birthday, and Hana had suggested to buy him an instant photo printer that he could use with his camera. Everyone had approved the idea, and on top of that, they had bought together a sweatshirt where it was written in the back `Caution, I'm clumsy' and in the front in little on the chest `#clumsygyu.'

Hana had forbidden Mingyu to do any chores on that day as they were thirteen to do it in his place. They had planned to go to an escape room and VR zone center. In the morning, Hana prepared a cake for the evening with the help of Jeonghan and . Hana hid it in the fridge before leaving with the party for their activities of the day.

They had to team up in small groups for the escape game. DK, Wonwoo, Woozi, and Joshua chose the WWII escape game. Dino, Vernon, Minghao, , and Mingyu went into the Joseon mystery room while Seungkwan, Hoshi, Jeonghan, Jun, and Hana inherited the ghost room.

Hana couldn't tell who screamed the most between her and Seungkwan. What she was sure about, however, was that Jun would probably have bruises on his arms because of her continually gripping them. Hoshi and Jun were laughing most of the time while Jeonghan was trying his best to comfort the two scared to death persons by urging them to find the clues to get out of the room. When the escape game finished, Seungkwan and Hana had lost all their colors. Hana was near to the tears and Joshua took her in his arms, "I wish you would have come with us. They were so many clues in German that we would have loved you to help us. But it was still fun, don't you think?"

Hana nodded with a shy smile before glancing over at Jun, "Jun will probably have a hard time these next few days."

"Oh yes," Jun laughed while showing to the others the bruises that were already showing on his arms.

Hana decided to go back to the apartment to prepare everything for the evening celebration. To avoid spoiling the surprise, she told Mingyu that she wasn't feeling well enough to do anything linked to virtual reality.

"Do you need help, Hana?" Joshua inquired when she was dressing up to go.

"No, I think I will manage," she reassured him while gently tapping on his shoulder. "You guys have to enjoy your time out at fullest. You had quite a busy week."

Hana left them behind already planning in her mind how she wanted to set up the living room for Mingyu's birthday. When she turned left at the first junction, she heard someone in her back shouting, "Hana, wait!"

She turned around to see Vernon running towards her. He caught up with her out of breath. He bent over, his hands on his knees exhaling loudly.

"Vernon," Hana reprimanded him. "You should have stayed with the others and have fun."

"I'm fine being with you though," he declared raising his gaze to meet hers.

The gleam of determination Hana could discern behind his bangs made her instantly blush. She turned away and started walking without looking at him, "Well, let's go then."

Vernon followed her without saying a word. After a moment, Hana asked, "Do you know a good place where I could buy some balloons and decorations?"

He nodded and took her to a shop close by which was selling decorations for every kind of celebration. They selected together a 'happy birthday' banner, two balloons forming together the number 27, and some other little items. Hana was looking forward to Mingyu's reaction. He had been so excited about their day out that it was unlikely that he was suspicious of anything.

Vernon and Hana started blowing up some balloons once they arrived at the apartment. Hana took some time to prepare some appetizers. She was sure that the boys would be hungry once they came back from the VR zone. Vernon came to her, "Let me do some Algamja-jorim."

"What is that?" Hana inquired.

"You will see," Vernon answered with a smile. "Let yourself be surprised."

Hana nodded. She went into the living room to hang and arrange the birthday decorations.

"Vernon, could you tell me if this bannerette is straight?" Hana inquired while standing on the couch raising her arm as high as she could.

Vernon could not stop himself but laugh when seeing Hana stretching out the best she could.

"Don't laugh, Vernon," Hana complained. "I won't be able to stay much longer like this."

Vernon regained his composure, "A bit higher… Stop! Like that is perfectly fine."

Hana groaned while fixing the bannerette to the wall, "That was tiresome!"

She came back to the kitchen to take care of what was cooking on the hotplate. She took the pan cover with bare hands and let it go instantly, "Omo, it's hot!"

It would have fallen on Hana's bare feet if Vernon hadn't caught within a second. He groaned as the pan cover burnt his palm, letting it fall on the ground after having pushed Hana aside. He turned around to face Hana and took her hand in his, "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Hana looked at him, perplexed about him getting hurt because of her.

"Why?" she eventually asked brushing over his burnt hand.

Vernon brought Hana to the sink putting the kitchen linen under cold water. While wrapping it around Hana's hand, he articulated without looking at her, "Because I don't want the woman I love getting hurt."

Hana's eyes widened up more confused than ever, "What?"

Vernon raised his gaze to meet hers. The look he gave was so intense that it made Hana shiver.

"You heard it perfectly well, Hana… I love you."

Seconds passed and turned into minutes. They were looking in each other's eyes: one not knowing what to say, and the other waiting on a reaction.

When Hana eventually made up her mind to speak, the entrance door opened on Jeonghan and Joshua who rushed in.

"Mingyu is coming in 20 minutes," Joshua declared out of breath. "What are you doing here?"

Vernon let go of Hana's hand and informed, composed, "Hana burnt her hand while cooking. It's nothing serious though." He glanced over at Hana, "Do you think we will be ready in 20 minutes?"

Hana nodded. While getting everything on the table, Hana noticed that her heart was still pondering.

'How did that happen?' she thought. 'What will she do about that?'

Hana decided not to worry too much and take some time to think about it. She knew that Vernon would expect an answer eventually. However, Hana was unsure to be able to give him the answer he would like to have…


	10. Chapter 9

After 20 minutes, everyone despite Wonwoo and Mingyu came in.

"Wonwoo took him to the supermarket to give us some more time to get prepared," Dino mentioned.

Hana put confetti canons in the hand of Dino, , and Jun. Then, she gave party streamers to Minghao, Woozi, and Dokyeom. Hoshi and Seungkwan inherited the party blowers. Joshua and Hana were in charge of filming the entire action while Vernon and Jeonghan had the honorable task to bring the cake to Mingyu.

They turned the lights down when Wonwoo sent a message to , warning them that they were in the elevator. The squeaking noise of the entrance door notified everyone that the birthday boy had arrived. They waited until the moment Wonwoo turned on the lights of the living room to fire the confetti and the streamers.

"Happy Birthday Mingyu!"

Vernon and Jeonghan came forward with the birthday cake while everyone was singing 'Happy Birthday to you.' Mingyu near to the tears blew out the candles. Seungkwan and Hoshi teased him with the party blowers.

"I wasn't expected that after today's activities," Mingyu eventually declared after having pushed Seungkwan and Hoshi away. "I don't know what to say."

"Enjoy the year, Mingyu," Woozi joked around. "Next year you will have to begin to pay for each year passing without fulfilling your military duties."

It was true that the Korean government had decided a few years ago that men should pay a fee after their 28th birthday for postponing their military duties. The military service had been reduced to 18 months, and Korean men had until their 35th birthday to do it under threat of imprisonment.

"A long time ago, we teased Dino about his young age," Mingyu mentioned with a half-smile. "Now, I am sure that we would all love to be his age."

Mingyu's comment turned everyone's attention to Dino giving Mingyu some space to take back his senses. Hana approached him to congratulate him, "Happy Birthday Mingyu."

He smiled at her and put a hand on her shoulder, "Thank you, Hana, for being here with us."

Hana raised her eyes to meet his gaze.

"You know," she confessed. "I think you guys don't know how grateful I am about you accepting me and welcoming me into your lives."

Mingyu leaned over her ear and whispered, "You know the guys might not tell you that openly because it can be a sensitive subject to some ears. However, I can assure you that we consider you as a part of the Seventeen family. For me, you are our 14th member."

Hana put a hand in front of her mouth, "Do you intend to make me cry?" she inquired quietly. "Because if you do so, you're on the right path."

Mingyu winked at her before giving his full attention to the various dishes which were laying on the dining table.

"Did you prepare all of this during the time we were at the VR zone," he asked, impressed.

Hana nodded, "Vernon did some Algamja-jorim though."

Mingyu rushed towards the plate and took some of the braised potatoes, "Hana, you have to try it. It's the only dish Vernon can cook properly."

Hana reached to the braised potato Mingyu was offering her. As she tasted it, her eyes widened.

"Woah! It's good."

Vernon joined in the conversation, "Told you." He took one as well and smiled while chewing. "Mmh, just excellent!"

Mingyu and Hana laughed. The evening went on as usual. The members were teasing Mingyu more, but they were doing mostly out of their affection for him. Hana took pleasure to see all the members offering their most sincere smile. Never in the world should these smiles be taken away from them. 'And even more not because of you,' a voice in her head pointed out. True, it was. She would never forgive herself if she were to harm the group in any way.

On Monday, the members had one more day off. The reason for that was that they had to wait on the final version of the song to start working on the choreography.

"I'm going to the gym with Coups," Mingyu announced in the morning.

"Let me join," Hana blurted while standing up to rush in her room get her stuff ready.

At the gym, and Mingyu were having a coaching session while Hana worked out alone. Hana realized how much she had needed to release some of her thoughts. Vernon's confession had distracted her mind for an entire day. She wanted to free herself from the weight that left her heart restless. She had decided on the answer she would give Vernon. She wasn't sure that it was the answer that would put her mind at ease but it was the most rational and safe decision.

At the apartment, Joshua was chilling with Hoshi while some other members were in their rooms. Vernon, Seungkwan, and Wonwoo went out shopping, and Minghao was taking care of his health at a hospital. Joshua was looking at his phone when he suddenly exclaimed, "Hoshi, this is bad!"

"What is bad?" Hoshi inquired, upset.

Joshua got up and went to the kitchen.

"How could she not tell us? We have to prepare something, Hoshi," Joshua babbled. He looked at his watch. "Omo, we are running out of time. Come on Hoshi." He clapped in his hands to make Hoshi stand up. "Let's inform the others."

Hoshi grabbed Joshua's arm to make him calm down, "First Josh, you will have to tell me what's going on here."

"It's Hana's birthday today," Joshua exhaled.

"What?" Hoshi bawled.

"Yeah, as I said it's bad."

Hoshi nodded and rushed towards the rooms to warn the others. Joshua called Seungkwan and requested that he should buy a proper birthday cake while being in town.

Hoshi came back soon followed by Dino, Jeonghan, Jun, Woozi, and DK.

"How come nobody was aware of that?" Dokyeom inquired.

"I guess no one never asked her," Dino inferred lowering his face.

"That's bad," Jun conceded. "What are we going to do?"

"I've contacted Seungkwan, Vernon, and Wonwoo to get a birthday cake," Joshua informed. "However, I wasn't able to reach either Mingyu nor Coups. So, I guess we are left alone on this one, for the moment, and I have no clue how much time we have left to organize something."

"Don't you want to go out somewhere?" Jeonghan offered. "It's pretty nice outside for the beginning of April, and I'm sure Hana would love to see the cherry trees."

"I guess you might be right," Joshua agreed, impressed by Jeonghan's input. "We have to get in touch with Mingyu or Coups to tell them without any questions."

"It's a good idea," Woozi nodded. "I guess it will be good if we could all meet somewhere. Jeonghan, do you have any ideas of parks ?"

"Seoul Forest Park ?" Jeonghan suggested.

"Isn't it too crowded ?" Woozi wondered.

"I don't think so," Jun mentioned. "It's Cherry Blossom Festival at Yeouido Park and Seokchon Lake. I guess the mass might go there."

"Perfect!" Dino exclaimed. "I can already picture Hana's smile. Don't you want to film it? She would probably be thankful to have a souvenir of our time together."

Dino's words brought them back to the cold reality that Hana wouldn't share their lives forever, and that their time together was slowly running out. In the back of his mind, Joshua knew that, once Hana's contract would terminate, she would probably go her own way. However, Joshua didn't want her to get out of their lives. The day Vernon had confessed his love for her, Joshua had spotted a glimmer of hope that Hana would become an integral part of the Seventeen family. He was ashamed of his selfish thoughts, but he could sense that most of the other members were feeling the same as him.

Hoshi had been able to reach , and they had decided to meet at Seoul Forest Park. Mingyu and would bring Hana on a walk pretexting that they wanted to get some fresh air after working out.

The other members met beforehand to get their surprise ready. Dino had planned the perfect scenario. They would hide behind trees while Mingyu and would bring Hana to the discussed location. Some of the members will then jump out of their hideout while Dokyeom and Joshua would bring the birthday cake. The filming part had been assigned to Minghao and Dino. They had asked Mingyu to film as well, if possible, once they approached the others' whereabouts.

At first, Hana hadn't been delighted by Mingyu's suggestion to go in a park for a walk. However, as soon as they had arrived at Seoul Forest Park, Hana realized that she could not have wished for a better way to relax after working out. The colors of spring were taking over the winter landscapes. While looking at the blooming cherry trees, Hana remembered why spring was her favorite time of the year. Spring was the sign of a new beginning: the perfect analogy of a life cycle. Whatever the essence of one's struggles, there will always be a way to grow stronger. Nature had proved it all! Spring was the result of hope: the evidence that giving up should never be an option.

After having walked a while, Hana was impressed to see how calm it was in this park. She would have imagined it to be very crowded because it was cherry blossom time but it wasn't. While talking to , Hana didn't notice Mingyu getting out his phone and lowering his pace. Suddenly, stopped and declared with a grave face:

"Hana, I'm sorry, but we actually wanted to tell you something?"

"What?" Hana inquired, uneasily. "What is it?"

couldn't hide his smile anymore, and before Hana could suspect anything, a pack of excited guys came out from behind trees blurting, "Happy Birthday, Hana!"

Hana had forgotten entirely that it was her birthday. The guys rushed towards her and hugged her. Hana was overwhelmed with joy, gratitude, and happiness. Joshua and Dokyeom came with an illuminated birthday cake. While they were singing the birthday song for her, the tears began to run down her cheeks. She blew out the candles before hiding her face in the sleeve of her sweater. Dokyeom put his arm around her, "Hana, I warn you if you don't stop crying now, I will join you sooner or later."

Hana offered him a smile, "I'm fine. I… just wasn't expecting that… at all. I even had forgotten about my birthday. How did you know by the way?"

"True, how did you guys now?" Mingyu inquired, curious.

Most of them shrugged their shoulders while Hoshi glanced over at Joshua, "It is Joshua who found out."

All the faces turned towards Joshua waiting on his explanation.

"Well," Joshua started with a half-smile. "I was literally stalking Hana on Instagram and scrolled down the comments on her latest post. The most recent ones were congratulating Hana on her birthday. Hana even has a Wikipedia page! Guys, she is famous! Well, that's how I've found out."

Hana became the center of focus again.

"Famous?" Mingyu inquired, skeptical.

Hana lowered her eyes. She was always trying to stay humble regarding the number of followers she had on her social media accounts.

"Yeah, well, I'm considered as being an influencer. However, I don't like to boast around the number of followers I have. To me, people cannot be reduced to numbers."

Everyone went silent for a moment, reflecting on Hana's words.

"That's our Hana," Dino expressed. "Always humble about her achievements."

The other members nodded, and Hana gave them an honest smile.

"Let's eat the cake," suggested as he clapped in his hands.

A collective 'Yeah' resounded.

With a splendid sunset, night came. While talking with her mum and then with her grandparents on the phone, Hana had walked away from the group. She enjoyed the moment of isolation and looked up to the sky. The stars were hard to see because of the city's lights. Still, Hana could discern the familiar shape of the moon. A breeze came making her shiver. She crossed her arms on her chest while sighing.

"It's getting cold, isn't it?" a voice commented behind her.

Hana turned on herself to face Vernon, and gently teased him, "Always sneaking in the back of people without any warnings, are you not?"

Not expecting that kind of answer, Vernon widened up his eyes and mouth before laughing earnestly. Hana joined him. Her look darkened as soon as she noticed that this would be the perfect moment to give him her answer.

"Vernon," she started with a serious tone. "Regarding what you told me on Saturday, I…"

"Wait," Vernon interrupted her. "Are you sure that you had enough time to think it over?"

His posture made him look strong, but his eyes were telling the opposite: he was afraid.

"I don't know how I can explain my decision at best," Hana resumed. "But I guess… you are an idol, and currently, I'm employed by the same company as you." She exhaled loudly. "On top of that, I am aware of the fuss it creates when idols are dating. I don't want that for you, neither do I want it to affect the other boys. You might tell me that I don't answer regarding my personal feelings… but, because of these circumstances, I can't have any personal feelings."

Vernon had lowered his gaze and slumped his shoulders.

"I'm sincerely sorry, Vernon, but I just can't," Hana whispered after a moment.

Vernon lifted his head and put his hand behind his neck.

"I can understand, Hana… Come on, let's go back!"

The forced smile he gave Hana broke her heart…


	11. Chapter 10

As Hana's contract was ending after the filming of Seventeen's comeback MV, she started looking for a place to live. She had decided to stay in Korea and explore the job opportunities. In addition to that, Samantha had required Hana to stay in Seoul to help her launch her start-up. Hana had sent her application for a dance teacher position at the 1Million Dance Studio and thanks to one of Pledis' managers she had been invited to audition for the cast of a Korean movie. Luckily, Mingyu and Seungkwan had helped her prepare for it. As the production of the film was consequent, Hana wasn't expecting to be called back for a role. However, she still did her best during the audition. Hana was quite impressed by the progress she had made in Korean in less than two months.

The performance team and Hana had finalized the choreography for the new song, "Dance with me." They had created two separate choreographies: one in group and the other with a girl. Pledis' creative team had requested this as they were thinking about the visuals of the MV and the future performances. Pledis' upper management would make the final decision regarding the choreography. In the meanwhile, the training started again. As they had roughly a month to learn and master the dance moves, it was quite a challenge for everyone.

Hana took Joshua with her to visit some apartments, and he mostly gave her advice on the fairness of prices. They were doing this during the morning while the other members were sleeping in. After two weeks of searching, they found the one. As the rent was rather low for the quality of the apartment, Joshua helped Hana to get over the paperwork as quickly as possible. The accommodation was located on the last floor of a building in Gangnam and had three rooms. The kitchen was opening on a living room which gave access to a rooftop balcony. A hallway was then leading to the only bathroom and the two bedrooms. Hana knew that the size of the apartment was quite considerable for one person. However, the conditions given by the landlords, Mr. and Mrs. Cha, had been more than convincing. The owners of the place were both business people who were leaving the city to retire in a countryside home. They had been looking for a serious person to take the tenancy of their apartment. During the tour, Mrs. Cha had expressed her positive feelings towards Hana.

"I am sure your boyfriend would be more than happy with you in this apartment," Mrs. Cha had commented.

Joshua and Hana had exchanged a glance before giggling together.

"She is not my girlfriend," Joshua had denied. "However, I must admit that I consider Hana as the sister I've never had."

Mrs. Cha had first apologized for her misunderstanding before smiling at the complicity the two young people shared.

A few days after, Hana received confirmation of her signed lease agreement. The landlords were moving out the beginning of May. As Hana would be in Switzerland during the majority of May, she had agreed with her best friend Samantha that she would help her move in. Indeed, Sam had to come to Seoul for business purposes and would be able to start furnishing the apartment during Hana's absence. Sam had been quite happy with Hana's offer as she wouldn't have to pay for a hotel and would be located in a strategic district of Seoul.

Pledis had eventually expressed their wish to make a woman appear in the main video. The members rushed into suggesting Hana for the position. They argued that they were the most comfortable with her and that they would save time learning the choreography as Hana was the one who created it. On top of that, they agreed that her visual wasn't bad. Hana rolled her eyes when Seungkwan insisted on that last point.

"Still, I feel honored that you want to work with me till the very end," Hana confessed to the members who had gathered around her in the living room.

All the members without any exception gazed at her, dismayed. spoke up first, "I guess I can say that on behalf of all the members. Hana, you entered our lives unpretentiously. Two months ago, I could not have imagined how hard it would be to go back to daily life without you."

The members nodded. Vernon lowered his head when his gaze met Hana's.

"Each one of us is more than happy, Hana, that we can enjoy this time together. We value you much more than you might value yourself, Hana, as an artist, a friend, and a member of the Seventeen family."

Hana couldn't contain the tears from emerging out of her eyes wide open. Hoshi who was next to her gently tapped on her shoulder.

"Don't cry, Hana, otherwise you are going to make me cry, too," he confided.

These words were meant to comfort her, but it didn't. She hid her face in her sleeves and started crying out loud. kneeled in front of her and put a hand on her crossed legs.

"Hana, I didn't mean to make you emotional. I only wanted to let you know how we feel about you."

Hana took his hands in hers and firmly held onto it.

"You did no wrong," she said between two sobs. "I don't know why I'm reacting this way."

Hana didn't know what was going on with her. However, she was sure of one thing: she hadn't felt like belonging to a family since her father passed away. His death had changed her relationship to her mum and herself. The past years, Hana had given up most of her time worrying for her mum instead of building up her self-confidence. Hana's dad had been the central pillar of her family. By losing him, the household had collapsed. Hana had spent years trying to restore the broken fragments. Still, her mum had never recovered from her husband's death, and Hana's brother had fled the house as soon as he started with his studies.

Out of the blue, tears were rolling down Seungkwan's and DK's cheeks. Hana reached out to them.

"Even if I won't share your daily lives anymore, guys," she consoled them. "I will always be there if you need me, I promise."

Hana was just too afraid that, in the end, she will be the one needing them more than they needed her. When she calmed down, Hana went to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water. She sighed loudly and took a sip of water.

"Are you alright, Hana?" Vernon who had followed her asked.

She met his gaze. The tears came back to her eyes. Hana lowered her face and shook her head forbidding herself to start crying again. Without even thinking twice, she lied, "I'm fine. Please, don't worry."

Vernon had been very distant since Hana's birthday. She couldn't blame him for that. She was angrier at herself for pulling him away each time he was trying to reach out to her. Hana could see him frown.

"Then, everything's alright." He uttered before leaving the living room.

Their discussion didn't go unnoticed. , Joshua, and Jeonghan made eye contact.

"Don't you think that they are both hurt?" Joshua whispered.

Jeonghan nodded, "Completely."

"I don't know what happened between them at last," noticed. "Vernon isn't the one to empty his heart without being asked to."

"Do you think Seungkwan or Hoshi know more? Vernon is most likely to turn towards them first when something goes wrong," Jeonghan observed.

"Let me talk to him," Joshua declared. "It pains me to see them like this."

He stood up and walked to his room looking for Vernon.

Vernon was lying on his bed, his face hidden behind his forearm. He didn't notice Joshua entering the bedroom.

"Vernon," Joshua announced in a calm voice. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Do you wanna talk about my miserable sentimental life?" Vernon sighed without even looking at him.

"I just want to understand what happened, if you are willing to explain."

"She turned me away without really doing it. The worst part is that I fully understand her feelings, but I can't move on."

Joshua sat down next to him on the bed, "What reasons did she have?"

"First, we are employed by the same company right now. Secondly, I'm an idol, and Hana is persuaded that a relationship will create a mess that will harm everyone."

"These reasons are understandable," Joshua mumbled.

"I know!" Vernon exposed his flushed eyes and sat down. "But this is not what freaks me out the most. Let me cite you the worst words you can receive while being turned down by the person you like: because of these circumstances, I can't have any personal feelings. It's just unfair."

Vernon's tormented face made Joshua's heart tightened. No one could have noticed the slight changes in Hana's behavior. She was able to hide her discomfort almost at perfection. However, Joshua had observed her staring more often at things blankly, getting distracted easily, and trying to keep her distance with Vernon. The rare moments where Vernon was showing her his affection she will turn him down straight away.

"Hana is not the kind of person to be selfish. However, you should take her words positively. Sooner or later the circumstances will change and won't present any obstacles anymore. Don't you think?"

Vernon looked at him his eyes wide open.

"Which means that I still have a chance to persuade her of my sincerity. Josh, will you talk to her? I mean… You, guys, all agreed that we would overcome this together whatever happens. I guess Hana is the only one thinking that we aren't ready to face the dark sides of change."

"Well," Joshua stared into the distance. "It's true that we are not getting younger and that we should have the rights to have a normal private life. Everyone does, so why couldn't we? I want this to change, Vernon. I wasn't thinking a lot about this before I met Hana. I guess she made us realize that we should try to live to the fullest without restrictions. Hana is the one who told me that you never know when it's going to be the end and that, in your own way, you should make the most out of it. Your life shouldn't be dictated by society or general opinion. By knowing her background, how can she not be an inspiration to us?"

Joshua looked at Vernon. He had a glance of determination in his eyes.

"Thank you, Josh! From now on, I will stop moping around. I will make sure to show her the sincerity of my feelings and how much she underestimates us."

"And I will make sure to talk to her in some ways," Joshua added with a smile.

Joshua knew that despite the words Vernon said, he was still hurting. To Joshua, Vernon and Hana as a couple would be the ultimate solution to avoid her walking out of their lives once and for all.


	12. Chapter 11

After discussion, Pledis decided that Hana would be the girl appearing in the MV. Hana had discussed with the creative team about filming locations. During the first five days in Switzerland, the members will have no schedule while Pledis' staff would explore the different locations. The members were going to stay at Hana's family house. Hana hadn't gone back to Switzerland for a long time. All the memories with her father were there. However, she wasn't afraid of going back. She was missing Josie and was more than happy to spend some days in her old home. Hana had been invited to give an inspirational speech by the college her father went to. As she knew that her father would have done it without hesitation, she accepted gladly.

The day before their flight to Europe, Mingyu decided to go out drinking with Seungkwan, Vernon, Dokyeom, Dino, The8, Wonwoo, and Hoshi whereas Jeonghan, Joshua, Woozi, Jun, and stayed with Hana in the dorm after having decided to order pizza. Hana took some time to show them pictures of Switzerland.

"And I looked at the weather," Hana pointed out. "It's going to be warm and sunny: about 20 to 24 degrees every day."

"Did you already set up a schedule for us?" Jun wondered.

"Yes, I did," Hana answered with a half-smile. "But don't worry, Josie and I planned some free time for you guys as well."

clapped in his hands, "I'm sure we are going to have a nice time."

"We don't go very often to Europe," Woozi mentioned. "But this year, we are already going twice."

"It's true." Hana agreed. "It's been a long time since you've been to Kcon in Paris. When is it again ?"

"Mid of June at some point," Jeonghan claimed. "We are going to have a busy schedule after that, with the comeback getting closer and the Asia tour coming up."

The fans would have waited a year for Seventeen to come back. The preparation of the album had taken a while as they had produced thirteen solo songs further to "Dance with me." The comeback would be announced once Seventeen would be back from Switzerland and the date of release was planned for the beginning of July. The extraordinary length of the album was meant to stay secret until the release date. Hana was hoping that the album would be welcomed well by the audience. She had no idea how the solo songs sounded. They had recorded them all before her contract with Pledis had started.

"How long will you be on Asia tour?" Hana wondered. "Is it already decided ?"

"I guess, it will last for a good two months." pointed out. "Pledis is planning a world tour for us next year. It still has to be confirmed. But if they can organize it, it will probably be the biggest tour we'd have ever done."

"Finally, realizing a wish for international fans," Hana mentioned with a half-smile. "I would love to attend one of your concerts."

"For sure, you will!" Joshua claimed. "I was actually wondering, Hana, in what kind of house you grew up. Do you have any pictures ?"

Hana looked up on her phone. She had some, but they weren't contenting.

"Wait, let me call Josie. If she's home, she can at least show us the main living rooms and the garden."

Joshua raised his hands to make her understand that it wasn't necessary, but the familiar beep of a video call was already resounding in the room. After a few seconds, a woman in her 60's answered. For the boys, Hana spoke with her in English.

"Hey, Josie! How are you doing ?"

"I'm doing fine. Getting everything ready for your arrival. My two boys are very excited to see you."

Because of the number of eyebrows raised, Hana felt obliged to precise that Josie had two dogs.

"Are these your colleagues?" Josie inquired when she saw the faces of the five members.

"Only a part of it. The majority of them are out drinking."

Josie laughed, "Getting ready for the long flight, I suppose. I'm looking forward to meeting you all. Hana praised you so much!"

The guys waved back at her and politely bowed their heads.

"We are looking forward to spending some time with you," Joshua said.

"Such charming, boys," Josie exhaled. "Hana, what is the reason for you to disturb me in my tight planning ?"

"Oh! Let's do it quickly then. The guys were just wondering where I grew up, and I know they are going to be here in less than two days. But… if you have the time to give them an premiere of the main living rooms and the garden."

"You know I'm joking, Hana. It's with pleasure. Let's start with the kitchen as I'm already here. It's messy but well they don't mind I guess."

Josie kindly gave them a wink before rotating the camera.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

"Yes!" everyone answered in chorus.

The preview tour started. Hana's childhood home was a farm which had been renovated with particular taste. The ceilings in the main living rooms were high, which gave the house a mansion feel. The colors chosen on the walls, of the furniture, and the decoration emphasized the desire to make anyone stepping in feeling at home.

"My parents were inspired by the interior design used in Scandinavian countries and the North of Germany," Hana specified.

The main living room was giving on a terrace overlooking a vast garden. Josie stepped out to show them the pool. It was intelligently built so that you could sit at the edge of the deck and put your feet in the water while sipping a glass of whatever would make your day. The highlight of the exterior of the house wasn't its garden but the view. Indeed, from the living room and the terrace, you could see the Alps looming over Lake Geneva.

"It's breathtaking," Joshua admitted once they had finished their call with Josie. "Why did you leave this heaven?"

Hana laughed genuinely, "If it had been my decision, I would have stayed. However, I'm glad I didn't because when I think about home now, only good memories are coming to my mind."

"After seeing this," Jun confessed. "I'm even more excited to be leaving tomorrow for Switzerland."

"Thank you, Hana," insisted. "To give us the opportunity to spend some days off in a beautiful location."

Hana shook her hands. "It is my pleasure. Now that I think about it, I guess it is important to me to show you where I grew up. You will be surprised because in Switzerland you are surrounded by nature everywhere. Our cities are nothing compared to the cities in Asia: a lot smaller and rural. You will maybe hate it there because you cannot just leave in the evening to do something. If you compare it to Seoul, it is pretty much dead."

"I suppose it's exactly what we need," Jeonghan affirmed. "A hell lot of tranquility."

Everyone laughed at his words. Hana looked at the time on her watch. It was already pretty late.

"I hope that they will come home sometime soon," Hana mentioned. "We still have a flight to take tomorrow."

"It's true," Woozi agreed. "I wonder what keeps them away for so long. Maybe they…"

He couldn't finish his sentence because of Seungkwan suddenly rushing into the living area with a worried look on his face.

"Guys, we have an issue!"

They couldn't even ask what had happened that Wonwoo appeared behind Seungkwan and announced, "We have lost Vernon."

"Whaaaaaaaaaaat?" everyone exclaimed in chorus.

Some of the members stayed at the dorm in case Vernon would get there while others went out looking for him. According to Seungkwan, Vernon had drunk way too much. The members had decided not to notify any managers about the situation. They didn't want their trip to Switzerland to be jeopardized by this issue. Each member had been assigned a specific area to search. Hana had to look in the different places around the dorm. At first, Hana walked, but as the time passed, she started to run. It was late, but she was afraid that he would cross the way of someone recognizing him and using his current state against him or Seventeen.

When she entered a park that was near to the dorm, Hana saw someone lurching on the pathway in front of her.

"Vernon?" Hana yelled.

The person turned around to face her. It was him. Hana exhaled loudly. She was relieved. Hana walked towards him.

"Hana!" Vernon stammered loudly. "Why are you here?"

Hana put her arms under his as soon as she reached him to give him support. Vernon raised one finger.

"I've asked why!"

"Vernon, help me a bit," Hana claimed. "You're heavy."

"Why ?" Vernon continued. "Why are you following me everywhere I go? It's hard for me already."

Hana found a bench and encouraged Vernon to sit down.

"You're always in my head." Vernon hesitated. "Why are you still appearing everywhere I go… even… even after having turned me down."

Hana remained silent and let him clear out his mind. Vernon gazed at his raised finger as he was speaking to it.

"Why?" He suddenly turned towards Hana and gave her an intense look. "Why don't you understand that I'm not able to erase you from my heart?"

Hana opened her mouth, but Vernon didn't give her the opportunity to speak.

"You hurt my feelings, but I won't give up. I will show you how sincere I am about us… how much I love you, Hana."

Hana's heart made a jump in her chest. Vernon was totally wasted, but Hana could discern the honesty and the despair in his gaze. Without any warnings, he put his head on Hana's shoulder.

"I tried so hard," His voice broke. "So hard to keep you out of my head. I had to give up because I realized how much I need you."

Hana's face turned red. No one had ever told her these words with that intensity. It took her a while to compose herself again.

"Vernon," Hana articulated.

No answer.

"Vernon?" she repeated.

Still no answer. Hana turned her head slowly. Vernon had fallen asleep. Hana signed and took out her phone. She quickly texted everyone on a chat group and gave her location. She wasn't able to take him home by herself now that he was doubtlessly away with his mind. While waiting for help, Hana let her thoughts wander. She didn't even realize that she had begun drawing with her fingers on the palm of Vernon's left hand.

"I'm not doing this because I don't have any feelings… I'm doing this to protect myself, you, and the other members. You might not be afraid of the entertainment business here in Korea, Vernon, because you know it well. I'm a newcomer… I'm afraid of not having the background you have to confront it. I'm sure you think I'm a coward… But, I'm sure of one thing. I know how it feels to be the reason for others' despair."

Hana was thinking of herself as a coward. At this point, she wasn't ready to feel the same way as she did with her family for so many years. She had told herself to many times 'If I hadn't expressed my envy to go to Nice, that wouldn't have happened.' A song came to Hana's mind, and she started to hum it.

"If we're caught in a wave, I will carry you over. It doesn't matter where you are, I'll run to your front door. When my head goes in different directions, you know my heart's never on the move. And in the dark times, you don't have to question if I'm a hundred with you. You could put an ocean between our love, love, love. It won't keep us apart. You could build a wall, I would run it up, up, up just to get to your heart. If we're caught in a wave, baby, we'll make a way."

Vernon moved a bit and whispered, "Hana," while smiling in his sleep. Hana had to restrain herself from laughing as it had been way too cute for him. Some minutes after, Mingyu and came rushing towards them.

"Do you know if someone saw him?" wondered, worried.

"I don't know, but since we are here, no one came by. I guess tomorrow will tell us."

Mingyu carried Vernon on his back while was checking that their way back to the dorm was clear. Once they crossed the doorstep, Seungkwan rushed towards them and slapped Vernon in the back.

"How could you do something like that, you rascal?"

Vernon kept still but mumbled, "Water, where is my bed?"

"I guess he needs a good night of sleep," Hana observed. "Seungkwan make sure he gets some water. We don't want him to get on the plane with a visible hangover."

Seungkwan agreed and went to the kitchen.

"I'm going to leave you here," Hana said to Mingyu and while opening the door of her room. "I'm exhausted. Thank you for helping me bringing this drunkard safely home."

Mingyu smiled, "We're lucky that you found him. God knows what he would have been up to otherwise."

"Sleep well," wished. "We'll see you tomorrow."

As soon as Hana entered her room, she leaned back on the room's door. She was flustered, and her heart was beating faster at the memory of Vernon's gaze. Hana calmed herself while getting her luggage ready. At 3 a.m. she fell asleep while thinking that love was a dangerous thing.

A continuous knock on Hana's door woke her up. It was Dokyeom.

"Hana, you have to get ready. We are leaving in thirty minutes for the airport."

Hana realized that she had forgotten to put her alarm clock. In a fraction of seconds, she stood up and rushed to the bathroom, "I slept in. Thanks, DK!". Hana was more than happy that she had taken the time to prepare her stuff before sleeping.

On the way to the airport, Hana shared the car with Dino, Woozi, and Vernon. Vernon had sleepy eyes. Hana was wondering if he remembered something from the night before. Luckily, she didn't have to ask because Dino did it while teasing him.

"From the time I left the bar, no I don't recall anything."

Hana was relieved. If he had remembered something, she would have had a hard time behaving normally with him. Hana enjoyed the trip to the airport to close her eyes and relax some more. Someone humming a familiar melody gave her the chills. She opened her eyes and discovered the truth she didn't want to know. In some way, Vernon remembered the song Hana had been crooning to him while being sincere about her feelings. She suddenly felt the heat coming up to her cheeks. Hana gazed the endless horizon and repeated to herself 'Please don't remember. Just forget about it. You were sleeping you rascal. How can you remember it? Don't remember please.'

Hana turned around and met Vernon's gaze. He was smiling at her. At this point, Hana knew that she was screwed…


End file.
